Lee Dryden, wanted on smuggling charges from 2007, held by narcotics detectives after raid netting 170kg of drugs
A British man wanted in connection with a failed plot to import more than £200m of cocaine into Ireland in 2007 has been arrested in Portugal.
Portuguese police arrested Lee Dryden, 49, from Bermondsey, after discovery of a yacht containing 170kg (374lbs) of cocaine in Olhão, in the Algarve.
Police said four men were arrested as a result of a year-long investigation led by the national unit for combating trafficking in narcotic drugs.
Scotland Yard has been seeking Dryden on suspicion of involvement in the 2007 plot, which has already seen six men jailed. The plan was foiled when their boat ran out of fuel in rough seas and was shipwrecked off Ireland's west coast. Part of the cargo was washed overboard.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We can confirm the arrest of two British nationals and we are providing consular assistance."
After two men were jailed in 2010 for their part in the attempt to smuggle in 62 bales – more than 1,500kg (3,300lbs) – of the drug, police issued an appeal for help in tracking down Dryden and Robert Ferguson, who were suspected of being key members of the gang. Police believed they were living in the Spanish Costas.
A former Metropolitan police detective, Michael Daly, was jailed for 22 years at Blackfriars crown court in 2010 after admitting his part in the plot. At the same time, Alan Wells from Sidcup, Kent, was jailed for 15 years after also admitting involvement.
In July 2008, four men – Perry Wharrie, Martin Wanden, Joe Daly and Gerard Hagan – were jailed for a combined 95 years at Cork circuit criminal court in relation to the plot.
The cocaine had been transported across the Atlantic on a catamaran yacht from Barbados to a handover point off the Irish coast. The boat, the Lucky Day, had been bought in Florida for $110,000 (£70,000) in cash on 3 March 2007.
It was sailed to the island of Margarita off the coast of Venezuela on 31 March. From there it set off with a Lithuanian crew on 25 May on its 3,000-mile journey. The cocaine was transferred to an inflatable dinghy which was almost submerged when it was spotted by lifeboat crew on 2 July.