Confiscated drugs are burnt inside a military base
IN PHOTO: A police official stands guard while confiscated drugs are burnt inside a military base in Santo Domingo April 16 , 2015. At least 1.3 tons of cocaine were burned after they were confiscated over the last week around the country, according to the (INACIF) National Institute of Forensic Sciences. REUTERS/Ricardo Rojas

Seventy-year-old and pensioner John Powell from West Yorkshire, England was handed with a 10-year imprisonment in Ireland on Friday for his role in smuggling cocaine worth £200 million [$388 million] throughout the Atlantic, on board the luxury yacht Makayabella. On the evening of Sep 22, 2014, the Irish authorities intercepted the cruiser, loaded with 41 bales of illicit drugs, which originated from Venezuela and was deemed to be the largest smuggle in Europe at sea.

Powell was with two other men when the Irish Navy spotted the vessel in a poor state, cruising 321 kilometres off Ireland’s southwest coast. The other two, 35-year-old Benjamin Mellor from West Yorkshire and 28-year-old Thomas Britteon from North East Lincolnshire, were each given eight years of prison term.

News says that Mellor, an alcoholic and drug addict, injured his wrist in transit and slashed one bale containing cocaine. He needed to get “high” to hold at bay his hunger after they consumed all their meal provisions. They have been adrift for six days and their drinking water was about to run out.

“To be quite blunt, they were delighted to see the Navy,” said Inspector Fergal Foley who described the vessel to be “in a grim state.” He also said that authorities found out that Sea Breeze, another yacht, attempted to “rendezvous with Makayabella.” Four days earlier, Sea Breeze was seen in a satellite, withering on the Irish Sea and needing a rescue.

After towing ashore, a suspicious sight was unravelled before the Iris authorities — drums of diesel, cannabis, food in huge amount and some satellite phones. It was around this time that Makayabella was reported by a U.S. merchant ship to be sailing through the Atlantic. Makayabella was tracked down in a collaborative efforts by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency and other authorities from France, Ireland and Venezuela. UK’s Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre and National Maritime Information Centre also played a crucial role in capturing the luxury boat.

All three on board Makayabella entered a guilty plea to drug trafficking before a Circuit Criminal Court in Cork City, Ireland.

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