Fishing boat linked to £100,000,000 cocaine smuggling plot into UK up for auction

A fishing catamaran with a crime novel past could be yours for a starting price of £80,000.

Many city dwellers have dreamt of a change of pace and a peaceful life by the sea, sailing into the sunset.

You could soon do exactly that if you have tens of thousands of pounds to spare to buy a former rogue fishing boat at an upcoming auction.

The background of the fishing catamaran ‘Lily Lola’ is certainly unique as it was busted carrying £100 million worth of drugs off the coast of Cornwall.

The seemingly innocent vessel was spotted bobbing in the waves by Border Force’s HMC Valiant during patrol in September last year.

On closer inspection by the force’s RHIB boat, the officers found four men inside.

When ‘Lily Lola’ was escorted into a secure port, they found around one ton of substances divided into bales, which tests revealed to be high-purity cocaine.

The drug bust is one of the biggest in the UK’s maritime history.

Lily Lola was confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), and it has been kept in South Devon since.

Now Wilsons Auctions will offer the seized catamaran in its upcoming Unreserved Prestige Government Auction, as instructed on behalf of government agencies.

It will sell to the highest bidder.

Wilsons Auctions’ Contracts Director Craig Walker said: ‘We are delighted to manage the sale of this high-profile asset. It is reported that the Lily Lola was intercepted by government agencies carrying over £100 million worth of cocaine during a major operation – and that is why the vessel is now being offered for sale by auction.

‘We are proud to facilitate auctions on behalf of our government and law enforcement agency clients.

‘We play an important role in realising a large quantity of assets on behalf of these clients and, in recent years, these auctions have seen us return over £150 million back into the public purse.’

The vessel is designed for the rough offshore conditions, and it is fully equipped for commercial fishing and charter activities, the auctioneer said.

Four men were sentenced over the plot to smuggle the drugs into the UK following an investigation by the National Crime Agency.

Michael Kelly, 45, and Jake Merchant, 27, pleaded guilty before a trial.

Jon Williams, 46, and Patrick Godfrey, 31, were convicted after a trial in March.

Williams, the captain who had bought the boat for around £140,000, was found at the helm of the vessel when officials boarded it.

An electronic device was found with messages showing the boat had received instructions and co-ordination from a third party, while a tracker had links to user in South America.

The men received lengthy sentences each – Williams 26 years, Godfrey 25 years; Marchant 18 years and Kelly 21 years.

NCA branch commander Derek Evans said: ‘The NCA works around the clock to fight the threat of Class A drugs which wreck people’s lives and devastate our communities.

‘Working with Border Force and the Joint Maritime Security center, we prevented a huge haul of cocaine from hitting the streets of the UK and wider Europe and ensured organized criminals are deprived of the significant profits they would have gained had these drugs made it into the country.’

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