A yacht that belonged to a former hotel boss at the centre of a £60m drug plot is to be sold by an auction house.
Gary Swift and Scott Kilgour were jailed for a total of 33 years after they tried to smuggle 751 kilos of cocaine from South America to the Welsh coast. The drugs found on board the SY Atrevido had a wholesale value of around £24 million with a potential street value of £60 million.
Swift and Kilgour, both of Bedford Close in Huyton, were jailed for 19 years six months, and 13 years six months respectively, after pleading guilty to importing Class A drugs into the UK. The sentencing took place in 2020.
READ MORE: Drug dealer's Albert Dock yacht to be auctioned off
The National Crime Agency ( NCA) later seized the SY Atrevido, a second sailing yacht, the SY Mistral, as well as three Rolex watches, a Panerai watch, and Tag Heuer watch. The SY Atrevido is now for sale with Wilsons Auctions.
Earlier this year the ECHO revealed how the NCA also seized the Nori yacht which was owned by Swift. The drug dealer moored the boat in Albert Dock.
Swift is the former owner of a hotel in Chester. The business venture failed and Swift was declared bankrupt in 2010.Last year a woman who knew Swift told the ECHO that he planned to start a new life in South America after the drug run.
She said: "He had a bought a house over there ( South America) . This was his last big job and he planned to start a new life over there after this on haul. But it was not to be."
Swift and his associate Scott Kilgour were initially placed under heavy surveillance by the NCA after they took part in a dummy run across the Atlantic in another of Swift's yachts called the Mistral.
The two Huyton men encountered heavy weather and had to be towed to safety. Police spotted suspicious-looking anti-surveillance equipment on board the vessel.
Police stormed the SY Atrevido, a third yacht owned by Swift, at around 2.38am on August 27 2019.
The vessel, which had sailed from South America, was escorted into Fishguard port where NCA officers and Border Force’s Deep Rummage team conducted a search. The drugs were found in all parts of the vessel.
Upon arrest, Swift said to officers: “I just want to say that I am guilty. I have got something substantial on the boat and they will find it.”
Bidding for the SY Atrevido will be open to the public in a timed online format on Thursday, May 26 at 11am GMT. Registered customers will have a 24-hour window of opportunity to bid online before the auction closes at 11am GMT on Friday, May 27.
Wilsons Auctions’ Government Contracts Manager, Mark Woods said: "We are delighted to manage more seized vessels at auction this month for our vendors. Sy Atrevido is another high-profile UK case on behalf of the NCA with reports that around £60m worth of cocaine was found on board the 50ft yacht.
"The great range of other luxury Lots should appeal to a wide variety of bidders – new buyers are always welcome to the auction process at Wilsons Auctions. The online element of the auction is extremely convenient for bidders around the world to register and get involved.
"We are proud to facilitate auctions on behalf of our government and law enforcement agency clients. We play an important role in realising a large quantity of assets on behalf of these clients and in recent years, these auctions have seen us responsible in returning in excess of £130 million back into the public purse.”
