Portsmouth: Driver and docker jailed in £118m cocaine haul trial

David Oliver (left) and Ahmet Aydin (right) were sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court

A dock worker and a lorry driver accused of being involved in a plot to smuggle £118m of cocaine into the UK will spend years behind bars.

The drugs were found in pallets of bananas in a ship destined for Portsmouth in April last year.

Portsmouth Crown Court found that both dock worker David Oliver, 44, and lorry driver Ahmet Aydin, 49, were aware of the scale of the operation.

Oliver was sentenced to 14 years in prison and Aydin to 13 years.

They both "expected a financial gain" by taking part, the court was told.

It heard that Oliver, of Cornwall Road, Portsmouth, worked as a cargo and distribution planner at Portsmouth Port and had access to internal systems which allowed him to know where stock was stored.

'Corrupted insider'

He knew of the location of the drugs before they were taken away by a lorry driven by Aydin on 24 April, 2022, the court was told.

Judge Bowes QC said the success of the conspiracy to import the cocaine into the UK was "heavily dependant on having a corrupted insider" and that Oliver's knowledge and skills were used on purpose.

The court also heard that Aydin did not present any paperwork when he arrived to the dock, but two pallets were still loaded onto his lorry.

Aydin, of no known address, drove the lorry with the two pallets to Sutton Scotney Service Station, near Winchester, but refused to go further. It was then driven north by another driver.

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

Judge Bowes QC said he accepted Aydin performed "a limited role" before adding: "There was an expectation of financial gain. That is why you did it."

The court heard how both Aydin and Oliver showed regret and remorse.

The court previously heard that the pallets were on a cargo ship travelling from Colombia to Portsmouth. Sniffer dogs found the drugs haul on two pallets when the cargo ship docked at Vlissingen in the Netherlands.

Authorities then allowed the vessel to continue to the Portico cargo terminal at Portsmouth and when the ship docked in Hampshire border force officers replaced the cocaine with dummy blocks and audio equipment.

Judge Bowes QC said a total of 1,475 blocks of cocaine were found and said the offences committed by Oliver and Aydin were so serious that only a sentence of imprisonment could be justified.

The pair had both previously pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of a controlled drug.