Two Jailed for £16m Cocaine Plot

Two Dutch men have been jailed for their parts in a "James Bond''-style plot to smuggle more than £16 million of cocaine into the UK. Henri Van Doesburg, 68, and Arnold Van Milt, 49, were found guilty of plotting to remove 108kg (238lb) of the drug from a ship in Scotland using a Seabob vessel and other scuba diving equipment. Van Doesburg's son Roderick Van Doesburg, 23, and grandson Darryl-Jay Van Doesburg, 22, were cleared of conspiring to import illegal drugs into the UK at Leeds Crown Court. Judge James Spencer QC told the two convicted men they "played for high stakes'' and lost. The judge sentenced Van Doesburg to 20 years in jail for his part in the scheme. Van Milt was jailed for 16 years. He said: "It seems to me, despite your mature years, the two of you were out to make money, the two of you played for high stakes and the two of you have lost.'' The men were charged after customs officers found more than 50 packages of extremely high purity cocaine in the rudder space of the Cape Maria vessel at Hunterston, near Largs, Ayrshire, on May 9. The enormous amount of the drug had a potential street value of around £16.2 million. The four-week trial heard that Van Milt had scuba diving experience and planned to access the drugs in the ship from the outside. The Seabob, dry suits and other scuba diving equipment were found in his car after his arrest. Describing the underwater vessel to the jury, prosecutor Paul Mitchell said: "You might have seen them used by James Bond and James Bond's adversaries. "It's the kind of thing you use if you need to travel underwater at high speed.''