FOOLPROOF COCAINE PLOT ENDS WITH 18-YEAR JAIL TERM

IRISH drugs smuggler James Beirne (51) was jailed for 18 years yesterday
for trying to flood Britain with pounds 6.5m worth of cocaine to fund his
luxury lifestyle.

Also jailed with him for the plot was Charles Russell (58), who was
sentenced to life in 1981 for the contract killing of a New Zealand drug
dealer. The victim's naked, handless body was found in a Lancashire quarry.

Two other men, Peruvian Miguel Urena-Wong (33) and a 58-year-old Irish
defendant, who cannot be named because he faces another trial, were also
jailed for the conspiracy to smuggle 50 kilos of cocaine.

Russell, from Kentish Town, London, was jailed for 22 years. Urena-Wong was
given 18 years and the unnamed Irishman was sentenced to 20 years.

Their convictions come after a series of three trials which are estimated
to have cost the British taxpayer pounds 6m. The Old Bailey jury
deliberated for 33 hours over six days before reaching their guilty verdicts.

Judge Richard Hawkins QC said: “This was a well-planned conspiracy to
import cocaine. I consider Russell to be at the centre. Beirne helped with
the final transfer from Estonia to this country. Each of you played your part.”

The court heard that one stupid but vital mistake ended luxury-loving
Beirne's hopes of funding his champagne lifestyle with the huge profits he
expected.

Beirne, of Strokestown, Co Roscommon, but renting a flat in NW London, and
his fellow drug smugglers devised what they believed would be a foolproof
method of bringing the cocaine into England without arousing the suspicions
of Customs.

The drugs, which had been grown on the slopes of the Andes, were hidden
inside a shipment of timber. An essential part of the plan was to first
send the wood containing the drugs to Estonia, which exports a huge amount
of timber to Europe and elsewhere.

The smugglers reasoned that when it was then re-exported from Estonia to
England it would disguise the origin of the cargo and nobody would think to
examine the timber for hidden drugs. The big mistake they made was that
they failed to check the merchant ship's destination log with the ship's
owners.

Their assumption that the merchant ship would go straight to Estonia was
completely wrong. Its first stop was Felixstowe in Essex.

The cargo from Peru did arouse suspicions. Customs investigators found the
hidden cocaine and seized it. But to make sure they caught the smugglers
when the ship later returned to Felixstowe from Estonia they allowed it to
resume its voyage.

Beirne and a number of other smugglers were arrested after they came to the
docks to claim the cargo.