Men found guilty of smuggling £512M worth cocaine into Scotland

Britain’s biggest drug bust

– CANU, GPF praised by British High Commissioner

The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) and the Guyana Police Force have come in for much praise from the British High Commissioner to Guyana, for what they did in the successful investigation into the United Kingdom’s biggest cocaine drug bust.

In a statement to the press on Monday, High Commissioner Greg Quinn said: “Her Majesty’s Government and the UK National Crime Agency are extremely grateful for the support and assistance provided by the Guyana Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit and the Guyana Police Force during the investigation. We are also grateful to those witnesses from Guyana who were willing and able to give evidence during the trial. Our cooperation has resulted in a significant drug interdiction and the conviction of those involved in this crime. We look forward to continued cooperation in the coming months and years.”

According to the Daily Record, the captain and second in command of a Turkish boat carrying a record £512 million worth cocaine have been convicted of an international drug smuggling operation.

Mumin Sahin, 47, and Emin Ozmen, 50, were busted after the MV Hamal was stopped 100 miles east of the Aberdeenshire coast in April last year.

A massive 3.2 tonnes of high purity cocaine was discovered hidden in a ballast tank at the front of the ship.

The pair now faces lengthy jail terms after being found guilty following a 12-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow on Monday.?

They were convicted of smuggling cocaine on the MV Hamal, as well as a separate charge of being concerned in the supply of the drug.?

Kayacan Dalgakirin, 54, Mustafa Guven, 48, Umit Colakel, 29, and Ibrahim Dag, 48, were cleared of the allegations after the jury returned not proven verdicts.

Judge Lord Kinclaven remanded first offenders Sahin and Ozmen in custody until sentencing next month. The smuggling was said to have occurred between February and April last year.?

Prosecutors stated that the boat travelled from Istanbul via Tenerife to South America then on to the North Sea.

The bust happened after the MV Hamal was halted in international waters and brought back to Aberdeen Harbour. French customs had earlier tipped-off that drugs were on board.

The vessel was intercepted by the Royal Navy warship HMS Somerset and Border Force officials.

Colakel was third captain with Dalgakirin and Dag engineers while Guven was a seaman.

A National Crime Agency officer told the trial how he and his colleagues formed a human chain to painstakingly unload 129 bales of cocaine from the tug.

Alistair Gow recalled the haul being so big, it took two days to remove. This involved a specialist “deep rummage” team being deployed.?

A crane was required at the quayside to then move the bales off the ship.?In an unusual move – and amid tight security – the drugs were brought to court for the jury to see. The purity of the cocaine ranged from between 58 and 74 per cent.

Police drugs expert Jurgen Wahla revealed that the haul had a potential UK street value of £512 million. This would happen if the cocaine was adulterated to around 15 per cent pure and sold in one gram deals.

Wahla added: “It is a massive importation – unprecedented in what I’ve seen in my years of experience.”

The expert was also asked about the “recognised trade routes” of shipping cocaine from where it is grown. He told the jury: “It is now south of Venezuala and Guyana because of a lot of enforcement activity by the USA patrolling the coast: “Enforcement crackdowns – particularly in Columbia – and increased US enforcement have escalated the value of countries such as Guyana in the global drugs market.”

Mustafa Guven, the father of three, gave evidence during the trial. He recalled how he ended up on the Hamal after answering a job advert he spotted at a bus stop back in Turkey.

Guven had no previous experience of being employed on a boat – but said he was told during the call it was “not important”.

Via an interpreter, he told the jury, “I thought it would be fantastic to work on the sea.” He said there had been an “agreement” that the voyage would last six months, but, at first, he did not know where the ship was going.

Guven recalled the boat ending up in a number of locations including Greece, Tenerife and Guyana.

In her closing speech, prosecutor Ashley Edwards told the jury those guilty “played a part in concealing the drugs and allowing them to be transported.”