Port Worker Caught Smuggling £118m Worth of Cocaine
A corrupt dockworker from Portsmouth has been locked up for 21 years after trying to import a staggering £118 million haul of cocaine, following a National Crime Agency (NCA) sting.
Banana Cargo Used to Hide Massive Drug Shipment
Michael Jordan, 45, was on duty at Portsmouth docks when 372 pallets of bananas arrived aboard the cargo vessel MV Atlantic Klipper. The shipment had started its journey in Colombia, stopping in the Netherlands before reaching the UK.
But undercover NCA officers, working with Dutch police, discovered 1,477 kilos of cocaine hidden inside the crates. The drugs were swapped out for dummy packages to trap the criminals.
CCTV Footage Seals the Deal
When the ship docked in Portsmouth in April 2022, officers caught Jordan on CCTV unloading pallets he believed held the drugs. He moved them to a secret warehouse, working alongside accomplice David Oliver, who was convicted last year.
Jordan planned the next move with Turkish lorry driver Ahmet Aydin, convicted the same year, prepping to quickly load the cocaine into Aydin’s trailer without raising suspicion.
Nationwide Crackdown Leads to Multiple Arrests
Intelligence from the NCA was shared with West Midlands Police, who swooped on a rural site near Lichfield, Staffordshire, where the fake load was transported. Four men were arrested in total, including Jordan, Oliver, and Aydin, all charged with conspiracy to import Class A drugs.
NCA Branch Commander Matt McMillan said: “Michael Jordan used his insider knowledge as a port worker to profit from the cocaine trade, which drives violence and exploitation on our streets. We worked closely with international partners and police to dismantle this organised crime group and keep the public safe.”
