A group of men made their first appearance in court today in connection to a ship, crammed with cocaine, in the North Sea.
Prosecutors claim the MV Hamal boat – between February and April this year – sailed from Istanbul in Turkey to waters off the coasts of Greece, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Guyana.
The ship is said to have then gone from Tenerife on the Canary Islands to the North Sea ending up 100 miles east of Aberdeen.
The nine Turkish men Kayacan Dalgakiran (63), Mustafa Guven (47), Mustafa Ceviz (54), Umit Colakel (38), Ibrahim Dag (47), Mumin Sahin (46), Emin Ozmen (50), Abdulkadir Cirik (31) and Muhammet Seckin (26) were in the dock at the High Court in Glasgow.
The nine accused face a charge of of being “knowingly concerned in the carrying and concealing of a controlled drug” between those dates.
They face a separate allegation that – between April 21 and 23 this year – they were concerned in the supply of cocaine.
Sahin alone is further accused of a charge under the Merchant Shipping Act.
Lawyers for the nine pled not guilty on their behalf during the short hearing today/yesterday.
Judge Lord Boyd adjourned to a further hearing in October.
