Two men have been found guilty after a sting operation at sea that netted Britain's biggest ever haul of class A drugs.

Mumin Sahin, 47, and Emin Ozmen, 51, were convicted of smuggling and supply charges by a majority verdict at the High Court in Glasgow.

The drugs, estimated to be worth £500m, were found inside a ship some 100 miles off the coast of Aberdeen in April 2015.

Co-accused Kayacan Dalgakiran, 64, Mustafa Guven, 48, Umit Colakel, 39, and Ibrahim Dag, 48, were found not proven by majority verdict. Three others had been acquitted earlier in the proceedings.

Image: The boat was stopped by the Royal Navy in April 2015

The Turkish crew of the tug, MV Hammal, were caught with 3.2 tonnes of cocaine hidden inside ballast tanks.


They were intercepted following an operation supported by the Royal Navy warship HMS Somerset, which was seconded from a naval exercise nearby.

The smugglers had sailed from Istanbul to Guyana to pick up their cargo of drugs and were sailing back towards mainland Europe when they were hunted down by the Border Force and the National Crime Agency (NCA), following a tip-off by French authorities.

Dramatic footage released by the NCA shows its officers, along with counterparts from the Border Force, chasing the MV Hammal in inflatable vessels.

Image: Mumin Sahin, 47, and Emin Ozmen, 51

The Turkish crew is seen slowing down upon instructions, allowing officers to clamber on deck.

The vessel was towed into Aberdeen harbour where NCA "rummage teams" searched it for several days.

Investigators discovered the concealed drugs when they spotted a recently welded hatch in the floor of the vessel's first aid room.

When they drilled through it, the tip of the drill-bit was white with 70% pure cocaine.

Inside the hidden compartment, they found the drugs bound into 129 "bales".

Investigators believe the drugs would have been destined for sale on mainland Europe and in the UK.

"It is fairly audacious," John McGowan, of the National Crime Agency, told Sky News.

"To shift 3.2 tonnes of cocaine is a brave move.

"It was a very, very good concealment. I think it is really down to the professionalism of the border force rummage team that it was found."

Sahin and Ozmen were found guilty of being knowingly concerned with the carrying and concealing of cocaine between 20 February and 23 April 2015 and of being concerned in the supply of cocaine between 21 April and 23 April 2015.

They will be sentenced on 12 August.