OAP cruise couple ‘had £2m of cocaine bound for Britain’
Detectives ‘suspect link to Costas gang’
ARRESTED The man had run towards officers at main gates A BRITISH couple aged 72 and 70 held on a cruise liner with £2million of cocaine may have been smuggling it to London for gangsters.
The OAPs, who live on the Spanish Costas, were held when MS Marco Polo docked in Lisbon on December 4.
Sources close to the probe say police think they were delivering the drugs for contacts in southern Spain.
They added it was possible the nine kilos stashed in their suitcases was ARMED police hold a suspect in the grounds of Parliament yesterday in a chilling echo of last year’s Westminster terror attack.
The man was tasered near the Carriage Gates where PC Keith Palmer was killed in March last year.
Yesterday’s drama, not thought to be terror-related, unfolded just before noon as shouts were heard from the gates, the main vehicle entrance to Parliament.
Armed police in bulletproof vests were seen pointing their guns at the bound for London – as the next stop after Lisbon was the ship’s final destination of Tilbury, Essex.
A source said: “The possibility they were working for a Costas-based British drugs gang and accomplices in the UK is being investigated. Work is also being done to establish the Caribbean island where the British OAPs were given the drugs. They haven’t said a word, even to insist they’re innocent and claim the drugs were planted.”
Portuguese police, working with Spanish police and our National Crime
MS Marco Polo man’s head as he was pinned down, handcuffed and searched.
A witness said: “The guy was shouting something. The police handcuffed him and got him to his feet, then unzipped his jacket to see if he had anything on him.”
The Met Police said: “A man tried to gain entry to the grounds of the Palace of Westminster via Carriage Gates, and ran towards officers posted there. He did not comply with officers’ requests to stop. A Taser was deployed.”
The man was held on suspicion of trespassing and was due to have a mental health assessment, they added. ECHO Scene of 2017 attack Agency, said the unnamed couple will “almost certainly” stay on remand in prison until their trial next year.
Cruise & Maritime Voyages confirmed the couple started their trip in Tilbury and were due to end it there. Portuguese press reported they have a criminal record here but it could not be verified. ■ Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon smashed a £2million drug smuggling ring used to fund terror after storming boats off Iran and Pakistan.