Simon Wade
SIX Brits have been caught red-handed with nearly a tonne of cocaine following an eight-month- operation by Spanish and British Police.
The group were arrested off Wales – on a boat ironically named ‘Bold’ – after a journey that saw them traverse the Atlantic from Spain, to Suriname to the UK.
Spanish National Police had been working with the British NCA (National Crime Agency) since December 2018, when two of the gang’s movements were traced to Mallorca.
When the boat was purchased on the Mediterranean island, the alleged smugglers were already under surveillance from multiple authorities.
Bold’s journey took the pair via Huelva to pick up fellow smugglers, then to Tenerife where the boat’s registration markings were removed.
They were tracked picking up their haul in Suriname, South America, and then monitored back towards the UK, where authorities boarded the boat off the coast of Wales on Aug 27.
Subsequently, all six were arrested in possession of 950 kilos of cocaine, as alleged perpetrators of drug trafficking offences.
Five of the group were men aged between 22 and 53, with a woman aged 30 – all were Welsh.
