Steward smuggled £2m cocaine: court

Jan 8 2009 by Hilary Clixby, The Journal

THREE ship stewards were caught bringing cocaine worth nearly £2m through a North East ferry terminal.

The men had arrived from Rotterdam on the North Sea ferry Queen of Scandinavia which berthed at North Shields. They left the boat on bicycles, each carrying a rucksack, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

All three ran off after refusing to be searched when they were stopped at a portside barrier by customs officials carrying out spot checks after rumours of cigarette smuggling, the court was told.

Prosecutor Craig Hassall said one of the men fled to the back of the dock and threw his rucksack into the river but was detained and the bag retrieved.

He said a second man fled towards a housing estate after shrugging off his rucksack, but was arrested shortly afterwards as he made his way back to the port.

The third steward, Bartosz Janiszewski, escaped, dumping his rucksack behind an electricity substation. Mr Hassall said Janiszewski somehow made his way back to his native Poland despite having no passport, later making contact through his solicitor with the authorities there.

The 28-year-old denies a charge of being knowingly concerned in the illegal importation of a Class A drug on November 28, 2006.

The court heard each of the rucksacks contained five kilos of cocaine with a combined street value of £1.8m, each haul wrapped in binliners from the same roll.

A pair of disposable gloves, three mobile phones and a list of what appeared to be numbers and times on it was found when Janiszewski’s cabin was searched.

Scientific examination of a binliner found in the cabin concluded it came from the same machine and factory as those found wrapped round the drugs, Mr Hassall said.

When interviewed in Poland, Janiszewski claimed he had been told it was cigarettes he was bringing into the country but suspected it was marijuana in the bags.

“In this case the word that is going to be important is the word ‘knowingly’,” Mr Hassall said.

“It is the prosecution case he did knowingly smuggle that cocaine into this country.”

The trial continues today.