British pensioner couple Roger and Sue Clarke are due to begin their trial in Lisbon today for drug trafficking.
The pair – both in their 70s – were arrested at the city’s port in December last year on the return leg of a Caribbean cruise (click here).
Nine kilos worth of cocaine – said to be worth ‘nearly one million pounds’, ‘between one to two million pounds’ and even ‘up to 63 million euros’ (depending on which news source you follow) – was discovered in the false-bottoms of their luggage.
If found guilty, the Clarkes – already known to police for trafficking offences – face up to 12 years in jail.
At the time of their arrest, both were described as refusing to spill the beans on who they were carrying the drugs for (click here).
Now, the UK Mail claims they “will point the finger at a mystery businessman named Lee”.
The couple have reportedly told police that ‘Lee’ is ‘of Jamaican origin’ and paid for their £6,800 Caribbean cruise.
But bizarrely neither of them appear to have any contact details for ‘Lee’.
Mr Clarke says the ‘mystery entrepreneur’ asked him to pick up empty new suitcases in St Lucia and then buy exotic fruit that could be sold for a ‘massive profit’ in the UK.
In other words, it sounds very much like the Clarkes’ defence may be that they had no idea they were carrying drugs.
Nonetheless the Mail claims “explosive court documents” have put paid to this premise.
They show the Clarkes “led a jet-set lifestyle with no obvious way of paying for it”.
“The court documents paint a fascinating picture of an elderly couple combining a seemingly run-of-the-mill lifestyle of bingo, golf and the occasional meal out with friends with a remarkable number of cruises to exotic locations”, says the paper.
The Mail further claims that a Portuguese police report says “there is no doubt Roger and Susan Clarke had contact with drugs trafficking organisations during two trips in 2017 and another they made in 2018. They were made to South America, to countries which were linked to the transport of cocaine to Europe”.
Quoting Portuguese police inspector Carla Nunes, the Mail suggests police think the Clarkes’ evidence about ‘Lee’ is bogus.
Nunes told the paper: “The age of the suspects added to the fact they were a married couple could lead one to suspect these cruises were really for fun when in truth they were part of an illicit project and their behaviour was designed just to make easy money with high profit.They could both have been making between nearly £18,000 and £26,500 plus expenses per trip.’
The Clarkes have been held in separate jails in Lisbon since their arrest.
According to the court papers, when asked by officers whether they were carrying anything illegal, they “immediately” said “No”.
The Mail adds that the UK’s National Crime Agency – which tipped off Portuguese police to move in on the Clarkes – has not revealed how or where it got its information.
