Two men involved in one of the UK’s biggest ever drugs seizures have been jailed.
More than half a tonne (524kg) of cocaine with a street value of more than £42m was landed by boat in Easington on the East Yorkshire coast in May.
The gang was intercepted in a pub car park by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers who discovered the narcotics in the back of a hire van.
Mark Moran, 22, was sent to prison for 15 years and Daniel Livingstone, 25, was jailed for seven years and nine months at Hull Crown Court.
The court heard the defendants had bought an inflatable boat which they used to pick up a consignment of drugs in the North Sea.
They landed the cocaine at a caravan site before driving to stay overnight at a local pub, where they were arrested.
Prosecutor Angus MacDonald told the court the drugs were of a very high purity of “86-89%” and was “one of the largest seizures”.
In mitigation, Moran’s barrister Derek Duffy said his client played a minor role and the whole operation was “cartel organised from South America”.
“His job was to get the drugs from the boat to the shore,” Mr Duffy said.
Livingstone’s lawyer Michael Forest said he drove the van to pick up the drugs and had been offered £40,000 for his role.
“He was in debt and it offered a way out,” Mr Forest said.
“The lure of easy money led him down this dark path.”
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