Two men jailed over £42m cocaine smuggling bid

Two men who tried to smuggle £42 million worth of cocaine into the UK have been jailed.

Mark Moran, 23, and Daniel Livingstone, 25, were caught after 524kg of cocaine were found in a hire van outside a hotel where they stayed in Lelley, East Yorkshire, in May, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

Moran and Colombian national Didier Tordecilla Reyes, 40, had sailed a rigid hulled inflatable boat from the Hessle slipway before returning hours later with the drugs and unloading them at a beach near Easington caravan park.

On Monday, Moran, of Ardrishaig, Argyll and Bute, was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to import cocaine at Hull Crown Court after being convicted by a jury.

Livingstone, who had pleaded guilty to the same offence, was sentenced to seven years and nine months’ imprisonment.

The NCA said Reyes, 40, who has also pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to import cocaine, is to be sentenced at a later date.

Another defendant, Anthony McAllister, 33, of Aldersyde in Taynuilt, Scotland, was cleared by the jury.

Livingstone was spotted shining a torch out to sea and talking on his mobile phone as he waited for Moran and Reyes, who were seen unloading a number of bags into the van and ditching the boat on the beach.

Earlier in the day Moran had driven a hire van and the boat from Norwich to Grimsby where he met Livingstone and Reyes.

They all drove on to Hessle and Livingstone filled two large jerry cans with fuel.

After sentencing, NCA senior investigating officer Alan French said: “There’s no doubt these drugs would have been sold into communities around the UK, but working with our partners including Humberside Police and Border Force, we have disrupted this crime group’s offending and made a huge dent in any profits they were due to make.

“We are determined to do all we can to tackle the class A drugs threat activity, and protect the public from the horrific damage it causes our society.”

Published: 23/12/2024 by Radio NewsHub