Drug smugglers who tried to transport millions of pounds worth of cocaine on board a cruise ship have been jailed.
Experienced maritime workers Benn Bath, from Staplehurst, and Joshua Paige, from High Halstow, were both involved in the plot to bring the class A loot to UK waters.
In March 2020 a holiday cruise liner called the Marella Discovery 2 was making its voyage around the Caribbean when its journey was abandoned due to lockdown.
Its passengers disembarked in Jamaica as the liner made its way back to Europe with her crew.
One of these members was bartender Milos Bigovic who, upon the ships return to the UK on April 25, 2020, tried to hand over 28kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of around £2 million to Bath and Paige.
The 22-year-old cruise worker had smuggled the drugs onto the boat when it was ported in Cartegena, Colombia, a month earlier.
While moored at the Isle of Wight, Bigovic hauled the drugs to the port side of the boat in a holdall and began lowering it over the side with a rope – but the load was so heavy the process burnt the Serbian’s hands.
Waiting below in a rubber raft were Bath and Paige who had sailed the former’s own boat, the Chatham Albatross, from the River Medway.
The pair bought the dingey for £5,000 and towed it on their journey to help get closer to the cruise while it was docked and accepted the drugs under cover of darkness.
Overlooking the transfer however were members of the Border Force who, upon seeing someone return to the albatross, arrested its two-man crew.
Seeing they were about to be caught, Bath and Paige threw the drugs overboard.
Bigovic was arrested and admitted to importing cocaine. He was jailed for 11 years in 2021.
Bath, 36, and Paige, 31 were also convicted of the same charge at Winchester Crown Court yesterday (March 7) alongside Christopher Mealey, 47, of Upper Park Street, Liverpool, and Paul Farrel, 44, of Alexandra Street, Bolton and Clinton Avenue, Manchester.
Mealey and Farrell were contacts for unknown offenders connected to an inland Europe organise crime gang.
The 28kg of cocaine was originally supposed to be smuggled ashore somewhere in Europe.
But when the Marella Discovery changed course because of lockdown, the international OCG behind the drugs had to change their plans.
Mealey and Farrell – who ran their own OCG from the north west of England – were asked if they could get the cocaine off for them and they were put in touch with Bigovic.
The pair employed Bath – who is married to Mealey’s niece – and Paige to collect the drugs from Bigovic.
Although Bigovic, Bath and Paige were arrested straight after the drugs transfer, it wasn’t until June when Mealey and Farrell were arrested after a breakthrough in Operation Venetic – the NCA-led, UK response to the takedown of encrypted comms platform EncroChat.
Mealey, Farrell and Bath all used EncroChat devices.
On June 12 2020, EncroChat administrators alerted all users that they believed the platform had been compromised and users should power off their devices and throw them away.
The next morning Mealey was arrested at Folkestone as he tried to flee the country through the Channel Tunnel.
He had bought documentation to show he had employment in Spain. He was carrying £19,000 in cash.
Farrell was arrested two days later.
Evidence provided in Operation Venetic revealed the planning and communications behind the conspiracy to recover the drugs from the cruise.
It also revealed another conspiracy in which Mealey, Farrell and Bath conspired to import 90kgs of cocaine with Essex man Liam West, 31, of Apton Hall Road, Rochford, Essex, in late March 2020.
On this occasion, West skippered a tug – the Battler – that towed a barge to the UK from the Netherlands. Hidden in the barge was 90kgs of cocaine.
Members of the OCG were sentenced: Farrell to 23 years; Mealey to 22 years; Bath to 18 years; Paige to eight years; and West to 14 years.
NCA operations manager, Jules Harriman said: “The Venetic evidence in this case was a game changer and showed the extent of these men’s offences.
“This OCG clearly had international connections and was able to orchestrate crimes with accomplices abroad that damaged the UK.
“The NCA has the reach and capabilities to tackle such harmful crime groups that have strands overseas and we work with key partners, such as Border Force, to protect the public from the Class A drugs threat.”
