Trio jailed for €300m cocaine plot

Three Englishmen who ran out of food at sea on a €300m cocaine smuggling operation were so desperate one of them began to consume the drug to stave off hunger.

All three were actually happy to see the Irish navy boarding their yacht in the end.

The trio — a pensioner, a window cleaner, and an unemployed man — were jailed yesterday. Two were jailed for eight years and a 10-year sentence was imposed on the third.

From the purchase of the yacht, the Makayabella, for €100,000 in March 2013 in South America, to the collection of over 1,000 kilos of cocaine in 41 bales off the coast of Venezuala in August 2014, and to the rendezvous with a smaller vessel, the Sea Breeze, 16 miles (25km) off Rosslare a month later, everything was set for getting the massive quantity of cocaine into towns and cities all over the UK.

But things went wrong. The Makayabella ran low on fuel and was under observation drifting at sea for two days. Food supplies ran out and they were extremely low on drinking water. The Sea Breeze had to be rescued by the RNLI and was later boarded by customs officers who discovered six large drums of diesel on board.

In fact, the Sea Breeze also ran out of fuel on its journey to bring diesel to the Makayabella.

All of those factors — together with a quantity of disparate pieces of information harvested by several intelligence, policing and customs organisations — meant an Irish naval vessel with officers from An Garda Síochána, Customs, and the navy led to the boarding of the May ayabella on September 23 last year.

Garda Inspector Fergal Foley said yesterday: “To be quite blunt they were delighted to see the navy.”

As of yesterday, at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, John Powell, aged 71, and Benjamin Mellor, aged 35, both from West Yorkshire, along with Thomas Britteon, aged 28, from Grimsby — had pleaded guilty to having over €13,000 worth of cocaine for sale or supply, and having it on a yacht for the purpose of importation.

Powell’s 47-year-old son, Stephen Powell, was described by Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin as being the brains and the money behind the crime.

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Insp Foley said Stephen Powell had been jailed for 16 years at a court in Leeds last December for conspiracy to import the drugs.

In Cork yesterday, John Powell — who bought the Makayabella on instructions from his son and who was to be paid a six-figure sum — was given a 10-year sentence.

Britteon and Mellor, on a promise of €20,000 and €100,000 respectively, were described as having put themselves at enormous risk of lengthy prison sentences for relatively small gains. Describing them as roustabouts on the yacht, the judge sentenced each of them to eight years.

Judge Ó Donnabháin said: “This is a very significant crime in which the accused were involved knowingly. They gave of themselves to go to sea in a yacht provided by Mr Powell from money from his son.

“Mr Powell was more knowingly involved with the finances and sourcing of the boat and he stood to get more out of it financially if the thing came to fruition. The other two men were roustabouts.”

Referring to the co-operation between intelligence agencies all over the world, the judge said: “It is encouraging to see the reach of agencies is in no way limited by territorial waters or economic areas of influence. It is encouraging to see there is no hiding place for drug importers.”

Insp Foley outlined the background. The movements of the Makayabella in the Caribbean, he said, were reported to the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre based in Lisbon and of which Ireland and the UK are members. The information was disseminated from Lisbon and the investigation commenced.

The first significant event occurred on September 18 last whenthe Sea Breeze ran out of fuel 18 miles (28km) off Rosslare and had to be rescued by the RNLI. Several drums of diesel were found on board. Also on board was Stephen Powell, the man later jailed for 16 years for masterminding the ill-fated operation.

Also struggling at sea, 450 nautical miles off the coast, was the Makayabella. A US naval vessel had observed it appearing to be floundering and reported the matter to the US Maritime Information Centre.

Backtracking information on the Makayabella to the Caribbean, it was discovered that Mellor had to be rescued in the Caribbean where he was found floating in a dinghy and under the influence of cocaine.

With all of that information coming together, a boarding party was arranged and as soon as they boarded on September 23, 217 nautical miles off the south coast, the three confessed their crime and 41 bales of cocaine were seized.

The three were in an abject condition for want of food so much so that Mellor had resorted to consuming cocaine to ward off hunger. Vessel, crew, and drugs were brought ashore at Haulbowline in Cork two days later.

Ciarán O’Loughlin, for Powell, said the 71-year-old had a lot health difficulties and had no previous convictions. His father had been a policeman. Alice Fawsett, SC, said Mellor, who broke his wrist on the voyage, had been using drugs since the age of 12 and embarked on it to pay off a drugs debt.

Michael O’Higgins, SC, said Britteon was working as a window cleaner when he met Stephen Powell and agreed to sign up for what had sounded to him like a Caribbean holiday.

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