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25/09/2012
61-Year-Old Career Criminal Jailed For 28 Years
A career criminal has been jailed for 28 years for his part in a €400m cocaine smuggling operation foiled off the south coast.
61-year-old John Alan Brooks was described in court as the mastermind behind the massive cocaine shipment seized off the coast of Cork in November 2008.
It was the second biggest drugs seizure ever made by drugs enforcement authorities here.
Brooks bought the 'Dances with Waves' yacht and hired the crew to transport the 1.5 tonnes of cocaine from Venezuela with the aim of smuggling the drugs into the UK.
However, the shipment was intercepted 200km off the Cork coast following an international police operation led by the gardai, Naval Service and Customs & Excise.
Brooks was jailed for 28 years at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday.
British officials singled out the Irish authorities for the crucial role they played in smashing one of the biggest cocaine smuggling plots ever mounted.
(H)
61-year-old John Alan Brooks was described in court as the mastermind behind the massive cocaine shipment seized off the coast of Cork in November 2008.
It was the second biggest drugs seizure ever made by drugs enforcement authorities here.
Brooks bought the 'Dances with Waves' yacht and hired the crew to transport the 1.5 tonnes of cocaine from Venezuela with the aim of smuggling the drugs into the UK.
However, the shipment was intercepted 200km off the Cork coast following an international police operation led by the gardai, Naval Service and Customs & Excise.
Brooks was jailed for 28 years at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday.
British officials singled out the Irish authorities for the crucial role they played in smashing one of the biggest cocaine smuggling plots ever mounted.
(H)
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