COPENHAGEN: Two men in charge of a boat carrying cocaine worth more than half a billion pounds have been jailed for a total of 42 years.
Mumin Sahin, 47, and Emin Ozmen, 51, from Turkey, were caught after the MV Hamal was stopped in the North Sea east of Aberdeen in April last year. A total of 3.2 tonnes of cocaine was discovered hidden in a ballast tank at the front of the ship.
Sahin was jailed for 22 years and Ozmen for 20 years. It was the largest-ever seizure in the UK, worth £512m.
At the High Court in Glasgow, judge Lord Kinclaven told Sahin: “Your role was a significant one, you were the master of the MV Hamal. “You had been entrusted with a valuable asset and illicit cargo.”
He told Ozmen: “You too were playing an important role in a prohibited operation”. Kayacan Dalgakirin, 54, Mustafa Guven, 48, Umit Colakel, 29, Ibrahim Dag, 48, were cleared of the allegations after the jury returned not proven verdicts.
