Dilip Kuner
A JAILED Liverpool man who thought a £60 million cocaine smuggling plot would make him rich has been ordered to hand over more than £300,000.
Gary Swift, 55, has been handed a confiscation order totalling £328,071 at Swansea Crown Court under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
He had been jailed for 19-and-a-half years at the same court in January 2020, after pleading guilty to importing class A drugs into the UK.
Spain’s Policia Nacional had worked closely with the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to bust the criminal conspiracy in August 2019.
Together the forces had identified the yacht SY Atrevido as carrying a large cocaine shipment.
In December 2018, Kilgour had bought the vessel, paying €50,000 for it from a seller in Mallorca, Spain.
Spanish police traced the movement of the conspirators and shared intelligence with the NCA.
The yacht, which had sailed from South America, was escorted into Fishguard port where NCA officers found 731 kilos of cocaine.
It had a purity of up to 83% and a potential street value of £60 million once cut.
As part of the parallel financial investigation, the NCA seized the SY Atrevido, a second sailing yacht, the SY Mistral, as well as three Rolex watches, a Panerai watch, and Tag Heuer watch with a combined value of around £7,000. These watches were seized from associates of Swift.
Investigators also obtained court orders to prevent the use of a third sailing yacht, caravans, five cars, two vans, and a house in France.
Upon arrest, Swift said to officers: “I just want to say that I am guilty. I have got something substantial on the boat and they will find it.”
He later admitted “I’m the bad one here,” and asked custody officers to pass a message to the NCA revealing the number of packages on board the yacht.
The NCA’s Mark Spoors said: “To compound the misery of spending years behind bars, Swift has now been stripped of his illicit wealth, which he has accrued through his criminality.
“This shows the full extent of the tools at our disposal to pursue serious and organised criminals, denying them the profit of their crimes.”
READ MORE:
- Police bust cocaine gang on Spain’s Costa Blanca where members led ‘life of luxury’
- Leader of notorious biker gang arrested in Marbella on Spain’s Costa del Sol along with massive cocaine haul
- 700 kilos of cocaine seized in Spain’s Valencia
