UK Convicts 11 Members of Drug Gang in Bumbled Smuggling Effort
The UK’s National Crime Agency is reporting the details of a bumbled smuggling effort that nearly saw the gang lose the drugs before they could ever get them to shore. On July 22, they completed the conviction of four additional members of the gang, reporting the individuals will be sentenced in November for their bumbled smuggling efforts.
The caper began with the gang assigning three people to head out from Portsmouth into the English Channel to meet up with a containership. An accomplice from the crew of the containership was to drop the packages of cocaine overboard about 40 nautical miles south of the Needles, to the west of the Isle of Wight.
According to the NCA, the entire event was being orchestrated by another member of the gang on shore who was directing everyone over WhatsApp. It started on the night of August 17, 2024.
The problems began when the containership sailed past the three men in a rigid-hulled inflatable boat and did not drop the packages. NCA reports the leader was messaging the little boat, “Big ship has passed you, flash lights” … and then “Big ship has passed you, chase it, and flash lights.”
The containership was going to jettison about 500 kg of cocaine packed in watertight bundles. Each bundle also had a GPS tracker, which the three men in the small boat were to use as they fished the bundles out of the water. The problem was that they could not find a signal from the GPS trackers.
Eventually, David Paterson, age 49, who worked a full-time job on an oil rig in Scotland, abandoned the effort and, along with his two accomplices, took the boat back to shore. He came back empty-handed and reportedly gave up, but was convicted for his role in the plot. One of the others got off at trial, and the NCA declined to reveal the details of the third man.
The following day, however, they finally found the signal from the GPS trackers. The gang reportedly scrambled and found three more people to take the boat back out to sea, and this time they found the bundles and brought them ashore. However, their plot had been found out, and when they landed with 16 bundles of cocaine in West Sussex, law enforcement was waiting for them. The report said the cocaine was valued at £40 million.
Law enforcement continued their investigation and reported they were able to capture the mastermind and others from the drug gang. The leader, Daniel Jamieson, age 41, masqueraded as a legitimate businessman and, using a false name, bought a maritime business so he could get hold of an RHIB to recover the drugs.
Others convicted included Sam Brown, age 33, who worked as a recruiter to find the people. Another individual, Harry Kennedy, who lived on the same street in Liverpool, was recruited on August 18 to help move the cocaine to shore when the GPS devices began working.
Law enforcement called the bust “a serious loss for the crime group.” They highlighted the bust as the latest in their efforts to disrupt trafficking routes.
Italy and UK Each Find Cocaine Hidden
in Shipments of Bananas
European authorities are reporting that refrigerated shipments of bananas continue to be one of the favored means of smugglers for the delivery of cocaine. In the same week, the authorities in both the UK and Italy reported large seizures coming from South America.
Italy’s Guardia di Finanza said the seizure on July 20 represented one of the most significant anti-drug operations carried out in recent years at the Vado Ligure port in the Savona region. They noted that they are closely examining trade routes with South America coming through the port and highlighted that the port has become an increasingly important crossroads for trade flow to Europe. As such, they said it has also become a desirable port for the drug smugglers.
They reported that the latest seizure was “cleverly hidden among dozens of pallets of bananas.” It was coming from “one of the main ports” in Ecuador in a refrigerated container.
The search uncovered 650 blocks, which testing confirmed to be pure cocaine. They reported a total weight of over 770 kg and estimated the value at more than €250 million.
Two days after the Italian seizure, the UK's National Crime Agency also discovered cocaine hidden in a shipment of bananas (NCA)
The UK’s National Crime Agency also reported a large seizure made on Wednesday, July 22. It is also monitoring shipments coming from South America and targeting the arriving reefer ship Atlantic Klipper operated by a Dutch company for an inspection. The ship was coming from South America and the Caribbean, arriving in Portsmouth.
The inspection seized 240 kg of cocaine, which was also hidden in crates of bananas. The authorities estimated the value of the cocaine at more than £19 million.
Banana shipments have long been targeted by the police as a favored technique of drug smugglers. In 2020, police in Rotterdam reported a seizure totaling 743 kg of cocaine at the port, but it was small compared to a stash of over 2,000 kg also found in a shipment of bananas coming from Ecuador in June 2020. British authorities in February 2024 called a seizure of 5,700 kg of cocaine, also hidden with bananas, possibly the largest seizure of narcotics in British history. However, the largest title seems to go to Spain, which seized over 13,000 kg coming from Ecuador, also in a shipment of bananas.
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