A dad planned on starting a new life in South America on completion of his last drug run, it has been claimed.
Gary Swift 53, and Scott Kilgour from Liverpool were jailed for a total of 33 years after attempting to smuggle 751 kilos of cocaine from South America to the Welsh coast.
The pair had been under intense surveillance from the authorities, who descended on the SY Atrevido which was crammed with cocaine as it neared the Welsh coast in August 2019, Liverpool Echo reports.
The yacht was escorted into Fishguard port where National Crime Agency (NCA) officers and Border Force’s Deep Rummage team searched it, and found the drug haul which had a purity of up to 83%. The wholesale value of the Class A haul is estimated to be £24m, with a street value of around £60m.
Swift and Kilgour later plead guilty to importing Class A drugs into the UK and were jailed for 19 years 6 months, and 13 years 6 months respectively.
Earlier this week Swift, originally from the Huyton area, was subject to a proceeds of crime hearing at Swansea Crown court.
The court ruled that Swift's assets which included three boats and five caravans, should be sold off.
A woman who knew Swift has now told the ECHO that he planned to start a new life in South America after the drug run.
She said: "He had a bought a house over there ( South America) . This was his last big job and he planned to start a new life over there after this on haul. But it was not to be."
In 2019 the ECHO revealed that Swift had previously been behind plans to refurbish a canal side hotel in Chester.
In 2007 the Liverpool man bought the Eaton Hotel in Chester for around £1m.
Swift, who sold his house to fund the venture, invested hundreds of thousands of pounds in refurbishing the hotel. At the time he said he had initially considered a move to the south coast, due to his interest in sailing,
Speaking in 2009 the father-of-four said: "Initially we were looking to move down to the south coast because I do a bit of sailing. But we had a good think about it and said let’s look for something more local.
“We wanted something we could do a bit of work on and the Eaton Hotel was looking a bit tired. We are now trading with 16 rooms but by Christmas we will have 19 rooms with a bar, restaurant and al fresco dining in the basement.”
The new venture was called the Canalside Inn and opened in 2009.
The Liverpool man was declared bankrupt the following year.
Swift and Kilgour had taken part in a dummy run from South America in December 2017, which ended in disaster after they encountered heavy weather off the Welsh coast.
That allowed the authorities to board his Mistral vessel where they immediately spotted suspicious-looking anti-surveillance equipment, used to stop law enforcement tracking his journey.
The two men were then placed under surveillance by the NCA, who launched a sting operation when Swift and Kilgour went ahead with the actual drug run.
The following March Swift flew to Suriname via Amsterdam, spending a week in the South American country before jetting home. While the defendant was in the former Dutch colony he texted friends back in Merseyside talking about a house he was planning to buy there, and discussing where he should put the swimming pool.
Swift threw his mobile phone into the sea as Border Force stormed his boat at around 2.38am on August 27 2019.
Divers later recovered the device from the sea bed and it is now being examined by the NCA.
During a hearing on Monday at Swansea Crown court prosecutor Tim Evans said the value of the cocaine being shipped by the defendants was put at £24,434,381. Once prepared for sale, the true value would have been far higher on the streets.
Financial investigators established Swift owned assets to the value of £328,071 including three boats - the Atrevido among them - five caravans at various sites in the north of England and a Hymer mobile home.
Judge Paul Thomas, QC made a confiscation order to the amount of £328,071 and gave Swift three months to pay, though accepted the sale of the assets was out of the defendant's hands.
Proceeds of Crime Act matters against Kilgour were adjourned so a final figure for his available assets can be agreed.
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