42 Years for two million pound cocaine plot

 21 June 2010

A gang who smuggled cocaine with a street value in excess of two million pounds have been sentenced to 42 years at Portsmouth Crown Court (18th June 2010)

Raul Beia, Dean Langley, Abdul Banda and Teresa Matos, plotted to import 8.5 kgs of cocaine from Columbia. Matos, a logistician serving on HMS Manchester, had picked up the drugs in South America, when the ship was docked at Cartaghena, Columbia. Matos was arrested by Royal Navy Police when HMS Manchester returned to Plymouth on the 10 Aug 2009. The investigation was handed over to SOCA which led to the arrests of Beia, Banda and Langley at a hotel in Portsmouth on the 12th Aug 2009.

Searches of their home addresses and Banda’s Porsche motor vehicle revealed documentation linking Beia to Matos, e-mails between the conspirators planning the importations, electronic scales, a number of mobile phones and sim cards as well as a vacuum sealing machine and 3 kilos of cutting agent recovered from the home of Abdul Banda.

Beia and Langley, who were found guilty of conspiracy to import cocaine at Portsmouth Crown Court on Monday 14th June, were sentenced to 13 and 11 years respectively. Matos and Banda having previously pleaded guilty were sentenced to 7.5 and 10.5 years.

A spokesman for the Royal Navy commented:
“Royal Navy personnel are subject to the same laws as other members of the community, and criminal behaviour will not be tolerated. We work closely with our partners in SOCA and other law enforcement agencies to ensure the strict compliance of the service and its personnel with the law.”