ianstone
06-08-2010, 09:27 PM
Navy wren who smuggled £2m of cocaine on warship 'was part of gang in which her boyfriend was a leader'
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/08/article-0-0619E876000005DC-251_233x367.jpg 'Courier': Teresa Matos was allegedly recruited to bring the drugs to Britain
The Royal Navy wren who smuggled £2million of cocaine on board a warship after a tour of duty in Colombia was part of a gang planning to sell the drugs in Britain, a court heard today.
Teresa Matos was allegedly recruited as a courier by her boyfriend Raul Beia and friend Abdul Banda, who were said to be the ‘controlling minds’ of the operation.
Another man, Dean Langley, was recruited to receive and distribute the drugs in the UK, Portsmouth Crown Court heard.
Matos, 36, allegedly picked up 19lb of cocaine while HMS Manchester was docked at the port of Cartagena in Colombia, South America, last July.
A month later the stash was found hidden in the lining of Matos's clothes insider her locker when the Type 42 destroyer arrived in Plymouth, en route to its home port of Portsmouth.
Beia, 39, is on trial alongside Langley, 20, accused of importing the illegal drugs.
Andrew Oldland, prosecuting, said: ‘These were not, as you might have expected, the proceeds of a successful anti-smuggling exercise.
‘The drugs had been smuggled on board by a wren.’
The trial has heard that Matos, an Angolan-born steward from Gateshead, Tyneside, pleaded guilty to smuggling at a previous hearing.
She will be sentenced along with another member of the alleged smuggling gang, Banda, 34, who has also admitted his part in the conspiracy, on the completion of the trial.
Matos was arrested in Plymouth while Banda, of Ealing, west London, was arrested with Beia, 39, and Langley at Portsmouth's Ibis Hotel.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/08/18/article-1207404-006F413300000258-740_468x339.jpgRoyal Navy warship HMS Manchester: Where Matos hid the drugs from Columbia
Mr Oldland said that they had bought plastic containers, clingfilm and scales from Argos and Poundland for the drugs.
Mr Oldland said that Beia and Banda were the ‘controlling minds’ behind the operation while Matos was a courier and Langley was recruited to receive and distribute the drugs.
Mr Oldland said that the use of a Royal Navy ship to smuggle drugs was an example of the ‘determination and ingenuity’ of those in the international drugs trade.
Christian Rooker, a civilian canteen assistant who worked on board HMS Manchester, said in a statement to police that he had gone ashore at Cartegena with Matos.
He said they had met a friend of Matos, called Tasha, at a bar called the Club Tropical where they had also met a man who was ‘dressed like an American gangster’.
He said that Matos had gone without him to the city a second time and returned with a large handbag but he was unaware of any other items brought back on board the ship.
The warship had spent time in Cape Verde for counter-narcotics training and had also visited the Falkland Islands, Brazil and Chile.
The trial against Beia, of Clapham, south-west London, and Langley, of Fulham, west London, was adjourned until tomorrow.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1285028/Navy-wren-smuggled-2m-cocaine-warship-gang-boyfriend-leader.html#ixzz0qJYEJsbe
She should be keel hauled what a disgrace. Anyone found smuggling that much grief and sorrow should be hung by the neck until dead
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/08/article-0-0619E876000005DC-251_233x367.jpg 'Courier': Teresa Matos was allegedly recruited to bring the drugs to Britain
The Royal Navy wren who smuggled £2million of cocaine on board a warship after a tour of duty in Colombia was part of a gang planning to sell the drugs in Britain, a court heard today.
Teresa Matos was allegedly recruited as a courier by her boyfriend Raul Beia and friend Abdul Banda, who were said to be the ‘controlling minds’ of the operation.
Another man, Dean Langley, was recruited to receive and distribute the drugs in the UK, Portsmouth Crown Court heard.
Matos, 36, allegedly picked up 19lb of cocaine while HMS Manchester was docked at the port of Cartagena in Colombia, South America, last July.
A month later the stash was found hidden in the lining of Matos's clothes insider her locker when the Type 42 destroyer arrived in Plymouth, en route to its home port of Portsmouth.
Beia, 39, is on trial alongside Langley, 20, accused of importing the illegal drugs.
Andrew Oldland, prosecuting, said: ‘These were not, as you might have expected, the proceeds of a successful anti-smuggling exercise.
‘The drugs had been smuggled on board by a wren.’
The trial has heard that Matos, an Angolan-born steward from Gateshead, Tyneside, pleaded guilty to smuggling at a previous hearing.
She will be sentenced along with another member of the alleged smuggling gang, Banda, 34, who has also admitted his part in the conspiracy, on the completion of the trial.
Matos was arrested in Plymouth while Banda, of Ealing, west London, was arrested with Beia, 39, and Langley at Portsmouth's Ibis Hotel.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/08/18/article-1207404-006F413300000258-740_468x339.jpgRoyal Navy warship HMS Manchester: Where Matos hid the drugs from Columbia
Mr Oldland said that they had bought plastic containers, clingfilm and scales from Argos and Poundland for the drugs.
Mr Oldland said that Beia and Banda were the ‘controlling minds’ behind the operation while Matos was a courier and Langley was recruited to receive and distribute the drugs.
Mr Oldland said that the use of a Royal Navy ship to smuggle drugs was an example of the ‘determination and ingenuity’ of those in the international drugs trade.
Christian Rooker, a civilian canteen assistant who worked on board HMS Manchester, said in a statement to police that he had gone ashore at Cartegena with Matos.
He said they had met a friend of Matos, called Tasha, at a bar called the Club Tropical where they had also met a man who was ‘dressed like an American gangster’.
He said that Matos had gone without him to the city a second time and returned with a large handbag but he was unaware of any other items brought back on board the ship.
The warship had spent time in Cape Verde for counter-narcotics training and had also visited the Falkland Islands, Brazil and Chile.
The trial against Beia, of Clapham, south-west London, and Langley, of Fulham, west London, was adjourned until tomorrow.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1285028/Navy-wren-smuggled-2m-cocaine-warship-gang-boyfriend-leader.html#ixzz0qJYEJsbe
She should be keel hauled what a disgrace. Anyone found smuggling that much grief and sorrow should be hung by the neck until dead