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| Farnborough Airport cocaine: Four guilty of smuggling | Farnborough Airport cocaine: Four guilty of smuggling |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Four men have been convicted of smuggling half a tonne of cocaine with a street value of more than £41m into the UK on a private jet. | Four men have been convicted of smuggling half a tonne of cocaine with a street value of more than £41m into the UK on a private jet. |
| Fifteen suitcases of the drug were found at Farnborough Airport in January on a plane returning from Columbia. | Fifteen suitcases of the drug were found at Farnborough Airport in January on a plane returning from Columbia. |
| Allessandro Iembo, Martin Neil, Victor Franco-Lorenzo and Jose Ramon Miguelez-Botas claimed they were unaware of the cases' contents. | Allessandro Iembo, Martin Neil, Victor Franco-Lorenzo and Jose Ramon Miguelez-Botas claimed they were unaware of the cases' contents. |
| Border Force officers said the haul was one of the largest they had dealt with. | Border Force officers said the haul was one of the largest they had dealt with. |
| Italian national Iembo, 28, and Neil, 49, from Bournemouth, and Spanish co-defendants Franco-Lorenzo, 40, and Miguelez-Botas, 56, were found guilty of fraudulent evasion of a prohibition in relation to a class A controlled drug, between 30 October last year and 30 January. | Italian national Iembo, 28, and Neil, 49, from Bournemouth, and Spanish co-defendants Franco-Lorenzo, 40, and Miguelez-Botas, 56, were found guilty of fraudulent evasion of a prohibition in relation to a class A controlled drug, between 30 October last year and 30 January. |
| Neil's brother, Stephen, who was also on trial, was found not guilty of the charge. | Neil's brother, Stephen, who was also on trial, was found not guilty of the charge. |
| Martin Neil, Iembo and Franco-Lorenzo were jailed for 24 years each, while Miguelez-Botas was given 20 years by Judge Philip Shorrock. | |
| During the trial at Woolwich Crown Court, Iembo claimed he made trips to Bogota, Colombia, as a personal assistant for a charity. | During the trial at Woolwich Crown Court, Iembo claimed he made trips to Bogota, Colombia, as a personal assistant for a charity. |
| In a December 2017 trip, also involving Martin Neil and Franco-Lorenzo, in which it was suspected they brought back drugs without being detected, a woman had called a private jet broker saying she represented a group of rich men who worked in the music industry and were involved in cryptocurrencies. | In a December 2017 trip, also involving Martin Neil and Franco-Lorenzo, in which it was suspected they brought back drugs without being detected, a woman had called a private jet broker saying she represented a group of rich men who worked in the music industry and were involved in cryptocurrencies. |
| She said they were travelling to Colombia to see singer Bruno Mars perform and wanted to hire a plane from Luton Airport and would pay £128,500 in cash. | She said they were travelling to Colombia to see singer Bruno Mars perform and wanted to hire a plane from Luton Airport and would pay £128,500 in cash. |
| Charity documents | |
| X-ray pictures of their baggage, retrieved later, appeared to show millions of pounds in banknotes used to pay for the drugs. | X-ray pictures of their baggage, retrieved later, appeared to show millions of pounds in banknotes used to pay for the drugs. |
| Iembo said he assumed the suitcases, which were loaded on to the plane before the trip, contained charity documents. | |
| When the plane returned, suitcases were taken to an address in Bromley. | |
| The court heard the four convicted men - along with Stephen Neil, who always denied any knowledge of the plot - then travelled together in a jet from Luton Airport on 26 January at a cost of £138,500. | |
| They arrived at Farnborough Airport three days later with 15 suitcases of cocaine on board. | |
| They were met by a fleet of cars hired to carry their baggage but were stopped by Border Force officers. |