Britons accept cocaine sentence

TWO Britons pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine from the Costa del Sol.

Once of them, together with an accomplice whose whereabouts are unknown, prepared and packaged the drugs for delivery to other European countries.

These were taken, usually to the UK and Holland, by the second man. A lorry driver by profession he travelled frequently between the Costa del Sol and the UK.

The trafficking can be pinpointed to May 2010 but possibly began earlier, said the public prosecution department.

In August that year, Spanish police were advised by the British Serious and Organised Crime unit that a lorry driven by the Briton was due to arrive on the Costa del Sol, carrying a legitimate load.

Once here, he would pick up a consignment of cocaine for distribution in the UK.

A watch was kept and on August 10 police interrupted the transaction at a Mijas shopping centre.

The lorry driver was caught red-handed, putting a rucksack with six kilos of cocaine worth €522,500 into his vehicle. Both men were arrested for drugs offences and imprisoned on remand.

Each has accepted a five-and-a-half year prison term and a €600,000 fine.  Having pleaded guilty to the public prosecution charges, the case did not reach court.