Two Dutch nationals appear in court after 1.6 tonnes of cocaine explodes off Cornwall coast

After that, two Dutch nationals appeared in court 1.6 tons of cocaine were confiscated from a boat off the coast of southwest Cornwall.

Maarten Peter Pieterse, 59, and Emile Adriaan Jeroen Schoemaker, 44, appeared at Bristol Magistrates’ Court where they were each charged with one count of drug importation.

Seizure is one of the largest ever shipments of Class A drugs found in Britain and came after The Netherlands-registered SY Marcia was intercepted off the coast of southwest Cornwall on Wednesday and escorted to Newlyn.

Pieterse and Schoemaker are accused of being “knowingly concerned in the carriage or concealment of controlled drugs of class A, namely cocaine, where SY Marcia knows or has reasonable grounds to suspect that the drug was intended to be imported or was exported contrary to the provisions. Section 3(1) of the Misuse of Drugs Act’.

The pair appeared via videolink for a brief hearing where they spoke only to confirm their names, dates of birth, Dutch nationalities and to say they had no UK addresses.

Prosecutor Andy Young said: “On Wednesday this week the Dutch-registered sailing yacht Marcia was intercepted. So far, 1.6 tons of cocaine have been recovered.

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“The search is ongoing and so maybe more out there. Two crew members were on board.”

The two were remanded in custody until August 20.