Tug Caught Smuggling Cocaine off Scotland

A cocaine bust was carried out on board the ocean-going tug MV Hamal, which was intercepted by the Royal Navy frigate HMS Somerset and Border Force cutter Valiant about 100 miles east of the Aberdeenshire coast of Scotland on Thursday 23 April.

The vessel was boarded and accompanied into Aberdeen where a search was carried out by specialist Border Force officers with operational support from Police Scotland.

The crew of the Hamal, nine men all aged between 26 and 63, were detained for questioning by investigators from the UK-based  National Crime Agency’s Border Policing Command, and later charged with drug trafficking offences.

They remain in custody and will appear before Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Monday, NCA said.

The operation was conducted following close cooperation with the French Customs Service DNRED and in coordination with the UK’s National Maritime Information Centre (NMIC) plus the Maritime Analysis and Operational Centre – Narcotics (MAOC-N) based in Lisbon.

“The exact amount of cocaine on board is yet to be determined and the search is likely to continue for some time,” said John McGowan, from the NCA’s Border Policing Command, based at the Scottish Crime Campus, Gartcosh.

Images: NCA