Downfall of Moshe’s mafia

More than 400 bales of Moroccan cannabis resin were concealed on the boat. It took officers five days to remove the haul.

Andy Sellers, SOCA deputy director, said: “This operation was a massive success for international and national law enforcement co-operation. The quantity of drugs seized would have funded a wide range of other criminal activity.”

SOCA began following the gang in January 2008 when Israeli detectives contacted them after intercepting the men’s calls.

The tug docked in Southampton in April last year after sailing from Ceuta, on the northern tip of Morocco, a month earlier.

Kedar was the logistics man behind the operation. A career in construction and extensive marine knowledge made him the perfect candidate to source and manage the tug boat, SOCA investigators said.

After the gang bought the vessel in 2006, Kedar was responsible for organising extensive repairs.

Despite his age and more than a year on remand in jail, he is thought to be in good health. A leading officer in the case described him as “friendly” and said he had been “amusing in the witness box” during the trial.

On one of Kedar’s visits to Britain while planning the operation, surveillance officers watched as he stopped his hire car in the middle of a dual carriageway to read a map.

After his arrest, he claimed not to have known the boat was being used for drug smuggling and said he thought it was being brought to Britain for tug work.