Five arrests after cocaine bust on catamaran
Five men have been charged with drugs offences after a ‘significant amount’ of cocaine estimated to be worth millions of pounds, was seized from a 60ft catamaran in Cornwall.
The Estonian skipper of the Nomad, Richard Must, 48, two crew members Voldemars Gailis, 20, from Latvia and Raymond Dijkstra, 27, from the Netherlands and two UK nationals Nigel Clark, 63, and Dean Waters, 60, are all facing charges of conspiracy to import cocaine. They are currently in custody and are expected to appear at Bristol Crown Court on 4 October.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the Nomad, which was inbound towards the UK, was intercepted off the south-west coast of Cornwall on 29 August by the Border Force cutter HMC Vigilant.
The Nomad was subsequently escorted into Newlyn Harbour where the Border Force Maritime specialist deep rummage team boarded and searched the vessel.
Commenting on the NCA-led operation, Gordon Scarratt, head of Border Force Maritime, said: ‘This is the second major seizure made by our maritime teams in the past two months and further evidence that the multi-agency approach we take to securing the UK’s border and territorial waters is working.’
The operation also involved the European multi-agency Maritime Analysis Operations Centre in Lisbon, the Irish authorities, the Irish Navy and Devon and Cornwall Police.