34 YEARS FOR UKP20M CANNABIS SMUGGLERS

FOUR men who took part in a UKP20 million cannabis smuggling operation
were yesterday jailed for a total of 34 years.

After a five-week trial at Dumfries Sheriff Court, Lord Reed told the
men that severe penalties were now available to the courts for
bringing illicit drugs into Scotland.

Barry Domsalla, 59, a businessman, of Eastbourne, East Sussex, was
sentenced to ten years for co-ordinating the operation. His
brother-in-law, Michael Harris, 49, from Pevensey, East Sussex, whose
role was described as "subordinate", was jailed for six years. Both
were found guilty by a jury of being concerned in the supply of
cannabis resin.

Two Dutchmen who crewed the yacht which took the drugs from Morocco to
Scotland pleaded guilty to supplying cannabis, but were cleared of
illegally importing the drug.

The skipper Ronald Keiser, 35, who said he had been "shanghaied" into
the operation by another Dutchman, was jailed for ten years. A crewman
Richard Nobel who said he did not know about the drugs until he was on
board, was given eight years.

Lord Reed commended the work of an undercover police officer who had
joined the operation to transfer 166 bales of the cannabis from a
yacht to a fishing boat near the Outer Hebrides and land it at
Portpatrick.