Man who smuggled Sh17.5b of cocaine on luxury yacht into Britain is jailed

A drug smuggler has been jailed for 16 years for trafficking £133m  (Sh17.5b) worth of cocaine on a yacht that was intercepted off the British coast.

Dutchman Maarten Peter Pieterse (pictured), 61, intended to bring the drugs to Britain for gangs, believed authorities, who called the haul "one of the largest seizures of class A ever in the UK".

More than 1,600 kilo blocks were found wrapped in 93 packages in plastic bagging in a compartment beneath the decking area of the 60-foot Dutch-flagged SY Marcia around 120 miles off the Cornwall coast.

It took a team of Border Force search specialists two days to remove all the packages.

The yacht had left Marina d'Angra, Terceira, in the Azores on July 9, 2018, and stopped days later.

Bristol Crown Court heard National Crime Agency led the huge probe into the activity after the 60-ft SY Marcia was escorted into Newlyn harbour in Penzance, Cornwall, in July last year.

The 2.1 tonnes of high purity cocaine were recovered, with an estimated wholesale value of £50m. If cut and sold on the street, the haul had an estimated value of £134million.

National Maritime Intelligence Centre (NMIC) in the UK and the joint Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre – Narcotics (MAOC-N) in Lisbon, Poirtugal, worked in co-operation with law enforcement partners in France, the Netherlands, as well as Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, to snag Pieterse.

The Dutchman was detained and quizzed on UK soil.

At one point the search was halted following the discovery of a suspicious package in the bales of cocaine, but resumed after the all clear was given by a Royal Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal team.

Speaking after he pleaded guilty at a previous hearing, Ty Surgeon, Operations Manager at the National Crime Agency, said: “This huge haul of cocaine is one of the largest seizures of class A ever in the UK, and with a potential street value of more than £130 million.

“Thanks to the international cooperation of our law enforcement partners, this vessel was intercepted, taken into port and searched, resulting in us seizing the drugs and significantly disrupting the activities of organised crime groups.

“I have no doubt these drugs were destined for the streets of Europe and the UK, to be sold by drugs gangs who are also involved in intimidation, exploitation and violence.

“We know the criminal trade in drugs is driven by financial gain, and the loss of the profit that would have been made from this seizure will have a major impact on the crime groups involved.

“The NCA continues to provide a key role in tackling criminal networks supplying class A drugs into the UK, and our work with partners at home and abroad to tackle the supply chain is vital to this.”

Stephen Whitton, Head of Border Force Maritime, said: “This was a sophisticated concealment, hiding a vast quantity of cocaine, that was only detected thanks to the expertise of the Border Force’s specialist search team and cutter crew working alongside the National Crime Agency and our law enforcement partners overseas.

"The vessel had been specially adapted for the sole purpose of drug smuggling.

“The seizure and the conviction of Pieterse that followed is testament to the effectiveness of the multi-agency approach we take to securing the UK’s border and territorial waters.

“Working together, we will continue to do all we can to tackle those involved in smuggling, to protect our communities from the damage caused by illegal drugs and to keep our borders secure.”

Another crew member, Emile Adriaan Jeroen Schoemaker, 45, who was arrested alongside Pieterse at the time, was found not guilty by a jury in June this year.