The trial of Victoria Baptist, 35 and Mark Franklin, 31, accused of being part of an "ingenious" operation, has begun at Gloucester Crown Court.Stroud man and woman plotted to smuggle cocaine worth thousands of pounds from South America into the UK by concealing it in camping equipment, a jury was told yesterday.
The Class A drug was brought to the UK impregnated in tents and ground sheets but was then extracted in special "laboratories" in London and Scotland, it was alleged.
Once it had been reclaimed from the camping gear the drug was "cut" with another substance, then put out for onward sale, said the prosecution
Lynch pin in the operation was Peter Tritton who, having been arrested in Ecuador in 2005, is now serving 12 years in prison there, said prosecutor Tim Probert-Wood.
He told the jury: "Both these defendants were, in different ways, connected to Peter Tritton."
He said Victoria Baptist, Tritton's girlfriend, was arrested with him in Ecuador in August 2005. They were found with 7.8kg of cocaine after Tritton had been monitored for months by the serious organised crime squad.
Franklin was arrested, along with others, back in the UK.
The prosecutor said it was the Crown's case that Franklin, with others, was recruited by Tritton to assist in the operation.
He described Franklin as a "footsoldier" and added that Jamie Fletcher and Alex Portocarrero had admitted being part of the conspiracy and were awaiting sentence.
A significant purchase, said Mr Probert-Wood, was made by Tritton on November 4 that year, when he bought 25 litres of methanol from Cotswolds Chemicals.
On September 19, 2004, Tritton flew from Heathrow to Caracas, Venezuela, and made a cash withdrawal the next day.
Throughout February and March the following year, he was making regular calls to Baptist and Fletcher, the court heard, and in March, Baptist and her teenage daughter travelled for two weeks to the Dominican Republic, paid for by Tritton.
Tritton and Franklin flew to Caracas together on April 29, and, under surveillance Tritton and a man were seen to get into a vehicle and Tritton emerged with a blue rucksack.
"We don't know where Mr Franklin was at this time," said the prosecutor.
He said it was the Crown's case some kind of "importation" took place, backed up by the fact Franklin, after the trip, paid £1,200 in three payments into his account.
On June 3, 2005. Victoria Baptist was seen in Natwest bank in Stroud making a payment on behalf of Mr Tritton, claimed the prosecutor.
Later that afternoon, she was with her daughter, and they met Tritton in the town. He had a box with him.
They all drove to London, where they handed a man the box before driving back to Gloucestershire.
The following day, the trial heard, mother and daughter flew to Amsterdam and on their return Victoria Baptist had a bag which was found to be contaminated with cocaine.
Baptist, 35, of Paganhill Estate, Paganhill, Stroud, and Franklin, 31, of Chapel Street, Stroud have pleaded not guilty to conspiring together, and with Pieter Jack Thomas Tritton, Alex Portocarrera, James Andrew Paul Fletcher and others, to evade the prohibition on the importation of a controlled drug of Class A between June 1, 2004 and August 15, 2005.
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