Portsmouth dockers walk free after £118m cocaine haul trial

Border force officers replaced cocaine with dummy blocks at the Portico cargo terminal at Portsmouth, the jury was told

Two Portsmouth dock workers accused of conspiring to import £118m of cocaine into the UK have walked free from court after their trial jury was discharged.

The drugs weighing 1.5 tonnes were found in pallets of bananas on a ship in the Netherlands in April.

Clayton Harwood, 55, was found not guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court.

Prosecutors said they would seek a retrial for co-accused Michael Jordan, 44, after jurors were unable to reach a verdict.

Previously another dock worker, Michael Butcher, 66, of Victory Avenue, Waterlooville, was cleared of the charge.

Lorry driver Ahmet Aydin, 48, of no known address, changed his plea to guilty of conspiracy during the course of the trial.

A fifth defendant, David Oliver, 44, of Cornwall Road, Portsmouth, pleaded guilty before the trial started.

Prosecutors said the drugs were found in pallets of bananas destined for the UK

Sniffer dogs found the "colossal" drugs haul on two pallets when the cargo ship, travelling from Colombia, docked at Vlissingen in the Netherlands, the court previously heard.

Authorities allowed the vessel to continue to the Portico cargo terminal at Portsmouth, the jury was told.

When the ship docked in Hampshire, border force officers replaced the cocaine with dummy blocks and audio equipment, the court heard.

Prosecutor Robin Leach suggested Mr Butcher and Mr Jordan, of London Road, Hilsea, had apparently been caught on CCTV swapping the pallets with others at the docks.

He said Mr Harwood, of St David's Road, Southsea, and Mr Butcher later loaded pallets on to Aydin's lorry.

The court heard the driver stopped at Sutton Scotney services on the A34, messaging a contact in Portsmouth to say "there are many police on this route".

Mr Leach said a different driver then took the vehicle to the West Midlands, where local police launched an investigation.

In March, 3.7 tonnes of cocaine was found among bananas at Southampton docks - a seizure later described by Home Secretary Priti Patel as the UK's largest since 2015.