Sam Wheadon Photography
Kate Burman
Pictured with her mother Trisha, following her return to the UK
Kate, her boyfriend Martin and 2 other British sailors were recruited through a sailing website to sail a yacht from St Lucia to Gibraltar. The yacht was searched en route and nothing was found. However, they were greeted in Gibraltar by dozens of police, Customs officers and sniffer dogs. The boat was searched again and 216 kilos of cocaine valued at £8 million was found packed around the engine. It was so well hidden that even the police had difficulty finding it and eventually had to destroy part of the boat. All four crew members were arrested and charged with various offences. Kate was held for 2 months before being released along with her boyfriend and another crew member. All charges were dropped; police investigations concluded that none of them had known about the drugs or had any involvement in their concealment and transport.
Kate Burman
Pictured with her mother Trisha, following her return to the UK
Kate, her boyfriend Martin and 2 other British sailors were recruited through a sailing website to sail a yacht from St Lucia to Gibraltar. The yacht was searched en route and nothing was found. However, they were greeted in Gibraltar by dozens of police, Customs officers and sniffer dogs. The boat was searched again and 216 kilos of cocaine valued at £8 million was found packed around the engine. It was so well hidden that even the police had difficulty finding it and eventually had to destroy part of the boat. All four crew members were arrested and charged with various offences. Kate was held for 2 months before being released along with her boyfriend and another crew member. All charges were dropped; police investigations concluded that none of them had known about the drugs or had any involvement in their concealment and transport.