Father and son among cocaine haul suspects

Three British men have appeared in court and another will be in the dock today accused of a plot to smuggle €125m of cocaine.

NCA investigators have charged Stephen Powell (aged 47) of Guiseley, Leeds, with conspiracy to import cocaine. He has been remanded in custody to appear at Leeds Magistrates Court this morning.

Powell was arrested following the seizure of around a tonne of cocaine on board the yacht Makayabella earlier this week, in an international operation involving the Irish Navy.

The three men detained on board the yacht were also charged by An Garda Síochána with possessing cocaine with intent to import.

Powell’s father John Powell (aged 70) of Silsden, West Yorkshire, appeared in a special sitting of Cork District Court last night, along with Benjamin Mellor (aged 35) of Bradford and Thomas Britteon, (aged 28) of Grimsby.

They were remanded in custody and will appear by video link at the same court next Thursday.

A 43-year-old man has been released on bail in West Yorkshire, while investigators have urged a sixth suspect, a 29-year-old man from the Halton Moor area of Leeds, to give himself up.

The luxury yacht was found on Tuesday in poor condition in the Atlantic Ocean, 200 miles off the south west coast of Ireland, while investigators yesterday seized a 25ft motor boat called Sea Breeze, moored in Pwllheli, north Wales.