A British man and five men from Nicaragua were arrested aboard a luxury yacht from Jamaica
when it was raided at sea off the coast of England where police seized more than
two tons of pressed cocaine. As a notable irony in this case the two million dollar yacht started
life as a military vessel serving as a Royal New Zealand navy patrol ship
The Mob Reporter here with news of an enormous load of cocaine
snatched off the high seas when it was almost at the end of a luxurious transatlantic crossing
undone by this summer's blockbuster undercover operation
Let me tell you about it
British police described it as a dramatic operation at sea
the boat was Jamaican flagged and left a Caribbean port 18 days before it was
intercepted in international waters 80 miles off England's southwest coast
On September 9 2021 it was boarded by officers with the UK Border Force and the National Crime Agency
Two UK Border Force vessels were covertly monitoring and tracking the yacht in advance
of the raid and at the appointed time they moved in with a special team stopping and
boarding the 37 meter long boat. The coke was neatly stacked inside black waterproof bags
here we see officers unpacking and logging the cargo inside one of the super yachts living areas
Britain's National Crime Agency estimated the street value of the haul at £160 million
That's more than US$220 million. The NCA said the load was destined for Britain
for distribution across the country. This smuggling operation seems compromised from
the start. British authorities were alerted to a Jamaica-based smuggling plot by Australian federal
police — another information bomb from the explosive international joint probe with the FBI when AN0M
an encrypted communications system, was distributed by undercover agents. An absurd number of criminals
were compromised by that probe while all of their calls and texts were really being read by police
which i tell you about in a video i'll link to here and down in the video's description
Among the trove of information gleaned in that sting that wrapped up in June, called Operation Ironside in
Australia, was news of a plot by what was called a 'sophisticated transnational organized crime group '
Given the timing of the operation, it's possible — perhaps even likely — that the communications that
were intercepted involved arranging or buying the superyacht. Until this summer the yacht was listed
for sale. The Operation Ironside search warrants were unsealed June 8, 2021. The last sales listing
i could find for the yacht was June 10th you can see sales pitch materials for the vessel here
The seizure is the latest in the ship's interesting history. It is called the Kahu a name
that continues from when it was a military vessel. It has changed hands a few times over the years
The first was when the New Zealand Navy offloaded it. It used to look like this: sturdy and stoic in
naval gray. Built in 1979 as a patrol boat it was the last of its class to be decommissioned in 2009
and bought by the wealthy owner of a New Zealand superyacht shipyard who rebuilt, repurposed and
refitted it as a long-range expedition yacht. It was lengthened by 30 feet and kitted out in plush
accommodations for family travel and entertainment. It sleeps 12 guests in six bedrooms including a
master suite along with rooms for a crew of four. It was a personal project for the shipyard owner
The ship's owner at the time Peter White-Robinson has been looking at police photos
of the raid this week and told me his old yacht has hardly changed a bit between his relaunch and
the cocaine interdiction other than a new coat of paint on the hull. He told me his family left New
Zealand in 2012 on the Kahu on a planned two and a half year adventure voyage with their two young
sons and another family. He gave me this photo of him and his wife from that trip. They worked their
way across the Pacific Ocean visiting numerous islands. They moored in Hawaii for a few months
and then pushed on to the west coast of Canada. After arriving in Canada a year later his company
fell into serious financial trouble. He ended the dream voyage there, moored his super yacht and put
it up for sale. That explains the Canadian flags in some of the sales photos from that period
Since then it has been up for sale a few times and re-flagged. When it was for sale in 2018
it was registered in Saint Vincent and moored in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the United States
There are also online listings for chartering the Kahu — perhaps it was even being rented at the
time of the interdiction. In any event it wasn't on a simple family adventure journey this week
police allege. Six men were arrested on board including a 32-year-old British man from Stockton -on-Tees
in England's north. The rest are citizens of Nicaragua in Central America, although none of
them has a typical Hispanic name. The youngest is 24 years old the oldest 49. They were being
held on suspicion of drug trafficking pending an investigation. The yacht — some call it a superyacht —
was escorted back to the UK mainland, moored at the port of Plymouth, where authorities did a "deep
rummage" search and discovered the haul of coke, considered a Class-A controlled drug in Britain
Plymouth, American viewers might realize, is the port where the Pilgrims left England in the 1600s
to form the second colony in the New World, from which many of the Thanksgiving traditions have
sprung.The capture of the Kahu, and its large cargo, will be cause for many to give thanks but certainly not
for everyone. Not for the six men found on board and not for whoever it was who owns that yacht
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