Top drug trafficker arrested in Spanish resort town

A FUGITIVE Irish drug trafficker was arrested in Spain yesterday after more than 10 years on the run.

Cork-born Brian Wright has been the subject of an international manhunt after leading what is thought to be the most successful cocaine smuggling gang to target Britain.

He was arrested yesterday in the resort town of Marbella following an extradition request from British authorities.

Wright, 58, moved from Cork in his youth when his family uprooted to London, where he was brought up in the staunchly Irish district of Kilburn.

Known as 'The Milkman' because he always delivered Wright is thought to have smuggled €430 million worth of cocaine into Britain between 1996 and 1998.

Wright, who is suspected of making around €140m from drugs, has also been linked to several killings and was excluded from the Jockey Club in Britain for race-fixing.

His empire began to unravel in his home county when a yacht, the Sea Mist, stuffed with 599 kilos of cocaine, was intercepted in Cobh in 1996.

Captain of the yacht, John Ewart, had sailed the boat all the way from the Caribbean when it developed engine problems and a crewman was stricken with a stomach bug.

The skipper diverted to Cork and pulled into Cobh, where customs officers carried out a search.

Unfortunately for Wright, they also found documentation that subsequently led to an international police inquiry against him Operation Extend.

Ewart, who pleaded guilty, was given a 17-year sentence for smuggling the cocaine which had a street value of around €125m.

The skipper cooperated with gardaí and pointed the finger at Wright and other people in the operation.

Wright posed as a wealthy entrepreneur in Britain and lived a lavish lifestyle as a prolific gambler.

He kept company with other British gangsters such as Charlie Wilson and Roy Adkins both of whom were shot dead.

Wright also kept company with comedian Jim Davidson in the 1980s and had a stake in one of his horses.

He was named as the man who was behind an operation to dope horses. Former jockey Jamie Osborne claimed he turned down an offer on behalf of Wright to throw a race.

He used to be a regular sight at the races and even hosted parties and golfing weekends for some of the game's top names.

In the years following the Sea Mist seizure, an international team of police brought charges against 15 members of the Wright gang, including his son Brian Anthony, who was jailed for 16 years.

After an international arrest warrant was placed on him, Wright fled to Turkish Northern Cyprus, which didn't have an extradition agreement with Britain.

But police surveillance successfully tracked him down to the Spanish Costa del Sol yesterday.