22 Years For Ex Met Detective

Thu, 18 March 2010 Courtesy of: Guardian

A former detective who was "pivotal" to the success of a £200m cocaine-smuggling plot has been jailed for 22 years today.

Michael Daly used skills and knowledge gained as a Metropolitan police drug squad detective to try to smuggle 62 bales – more than 1,500kg (3,300lb) – of cocaine into southern Ireland, Blackfriars crown court heard.

But Daly and the rest of the smuggling gang were foiled when their boat ran out of fuel in rough seas and was shipwrecked off the Irish coast on 2 July 2007.

“Daly was a key player in the 2007 plot and was due to share in the huge profits”

Police said Daly, who is already serving eight years over another failed drug smuggling operation, was "driven by greed". He was sentenced by Judge Henry Blacksell QC alongside his co-conspirator, former firefighter Alan Wells, who was jailed for 14 years.

Daly, 49, and Wells, 57, of Sidcup, south-east London, had admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Police said Daly was a key player in the 2007 plot and was due to share in the huge profits. He was in overall charge of the logistics and also possessed local knowledge to plan the operation as his family lived on the south coast of Ireland.

Wells admitted being paid £100,000 for his role in helping Daly to organise the plot. Detective Inspector Grant Johnson, from the Met's serious and organised crime command, said "Driven by greed, their activities would no doubt have netted them large sums of money had it not been for law enforcement agencies, particularly our Irish colleagues, working in partnership to identify and convict those concerned.

"Daly, one of the key ringleaders, was an ex-Met detective who, once leaving the service, clearly abused the knowledge and skills he gained as a police officer for criminal gain.

"We hope this shows that, no matter who you are, or what job you do, if you commit the crime, the consequences will follow."