Gang behind £50 million cocaine smuggling plot jailed after transatlantic yacht race

A British gang behind an audacious plan to smuggle about 600 kilograms of cocaine into Europe aboard a yacht taking part in a glamorous transatlantic race has been jailed for a total of 111 years. Ringleaders Lee McClenaghan, 57, and Lea Talbot, 55, hatched the plan to sail the vessel from St Lucia in the Caribbean to Lagos in Portugal, aiming to run two shipments and generate about £48 million in profits. The operation began two years of planning before investigators uncovered the scheme after the encrypted EncroChat network was infiltrated by law enforcement.

McClenaghan, of Chelmsford, and Talbot, of Chadwell St Mary, were jailed for 30 and 23 years respectively after admitting various drug offenses. They recruited an experienced sailor, Ian Magee, 68, of Chelmsford, who bought a boat called Ocean Magic that was used in the 2019 race, which investigators believe was a dummy run. Magee later spent about £100,000 on another vessel, the Sotirius, for the 2020 race when the drugs would have been loaded, but the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the plan. Talbot also travelled to meet Venezuelan drug cartel bosses to firm up arrangements.

In addition to the cocaine plot, the gang imported two cannabis shipments weighing a total of 676kg to the UK from Canada and South Africa, but Border Force intercepted them. National Crime Agency officers had known about the group since 2019 following the infiltration of EncroChat, a network used by criminals who spoke in coded handles. Investigators described the chats as revealing highly specific details that sailed along with a false sense of security, enabling officers to build the case.

Magee was given a 20-year term after being convicted of conspiracy to fraudulently evade a prohibition of the importation of a Class A drug and concealing criminal property. McClenaghan and Talbot were among those sentenced for involvement in the operation, and five other members were also punished last week at Chelmsford Crown Court: Daniel Braithwaite, 61, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, received 22 years for conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on importation of Class A and Class B drugs; John Campbell, 69, Brent, north-west London, got ten years for charges mainly relating to forged documents; Kane Ward, 60, Upminster, six years and six months for conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on importation of a Class B drug; Sundeep Grewal, 37, Grays, Essex, 40 months for conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on importation of a Class B drug; and Stephen Persaud, 41, Upminster, 32 months for participating in an organised crime group.

Detective Inspector Richard Smith, of the Organised Crime Partnership, said the cocaine smuggling plan was daring and would have been highly lucrative if successful, and its failure deprived criminals of the profits and the violence often tied to such operations.