How sailors say they were tricked into smuggling cocaine by a British man

For Daniel Guerra, an aspiring Brazilian sailor keen to question the world, the occupation advertisement was a imagination travel true.

A British yacht proprietor was seeking 2 deck-hands to assistance sail his vessel from Brazil crossed the Atlantic, 1 of the large water journeys.

There would beryllium nary salary, but each expenses paid - and, crucially, Mr Guerra would summation immoderate of the sailing acquisition helium needed to suffice arsenic a oversea captain.

"My imagination was to go a skipper and spell enactment successful Europe," remembers the 43-year-old, who saw the advert from an online sailing recruitment agency.

"So I was ace happy, knowing that my way to my imagination was beginning."

Things looked adjacent amended erstwhile Mr Guerra and his chap recruit, Rodrigo Dantas, 32, met their caller British employer.

They had feared helium mightiness beryllium immoderate snobbish yachtie oregon posing Instagrammer, who would marque definite they knew who was boss.

But no. George Saul was a smiling, affable figure, who did not importune connected formalities. The sailors, helium said, could adjacent telephone him by his nickname - "Fox".

"I utilized to enactment connected immoderate boats and the owners were old, ace demanding, ace rude and talked down to me," adds Mr Dantas. "He was like, precise cool, precise friendly."

Fox adjacent passed the support trial of Mr Dantas’s parents, who were disquieted astir their lad doing specified a agelong travel connected a yacht owned by a full stranger, and asked to conscionable him for themselves.

To get the aged sailing expression, they liked the chopped of his jib. They learned that Fox had brought the Rich Harvest implicit to Brazil for renovations, and wanted a competent unit to sail it backmost to Europe connected his behalf.

As good arsenic the rookies, Mr Dantas and Mr Guerra, determination would beryllium 2 others, including a qualified captain.

"I said: 'Look, ticker retired for my son'," remembers Mr Dantas’s father, João. "He said: 'Don't worry, I'll instrumentality attraction of Rodrigo.'”

As it turned out, his parents were not the lone ones who wanted to cheque that each was good connected committee the Rich Harvest.

Before the departure from Brazil, section constabulary spent astir six hours searching the yacht for drugs, with the assistance of a sniffer dog.

They did not find what they were looking for, though, and the sailors assumed it was conscionable a regular check.

They had heard stories astir cocaine being planted connected boats, and present astatine slightest knew they were successful the clear.

"When you question done an airport... your bags spell done the X-ray machine," says Mr Dantas. "So I thought, well, it's an planetary travel and they're coming to inspect the boat."

Such worries were acold from their caput erstwhile they yet embarked connected their epic travel connected 4 August 2017, the Brazilian coastline dilatory receding down them.

With them were an further unit member, Daniel Dantas (no narration of Rodrigo Dantas) and the yacht's recently hired captain, Frenchman Olivier Thomas, 56, a replacement for a erstwhile British skipper whose sailing skills had not proved up to scratch.

Fox, meanwhile, had made his mode backmost to Europe by level 2 days before.

"It was a beauteous day, cleanable weather, sun," recalls Mr Guerra, who posted a connection of acknowledgment to Fox connected his Facebook page.

It read: "I'm truly grateful, Fox, for this... accidental to larn and for our enslaved that has made maine stronger. Thanks mate."

After 2 weeks of sailing, the yacht developed motor problems, forcing it to halt successful Cape Verde, an archipelago disconnected the seashore of West Africa.

Once more, Mr Guerra and Mr Dantas recovered reasons to look connected the agleam side. The islands are a tourer paradise, and Fox said helium would ligament them wealth to bask themselves portion repairs were done astatine a section marina.

And erstwhile yet much constabulary came to hunt the vessel, Mr Guerra was not worried.

"They didn't find thing successful Brazil," helium thought to himself. "They won't find thing successful Cape Verde either."

The Cape Verdean constabulary were adjacent much thorough than their Brazilian counterparts, utilizing specializer cutting instrumentality to unfastened up the yacht's innards.

Hidden wrong beneath mendacious floors, they recovered astir 1.2 tonnes of cocaine - worthy an estimated £100m ($134m) if sold connected Europe’s streets.

"I felt that each my state was going down the drain,” said Mr Guerra. "I was furious, couldn't judge what was happening, you know? I’d been truly fooled.”

In March 2018, the unit went connected proceedings successful Cape Verde, protesting their innocence.

They had ne'er adjacent heard of Rich Harvest oregon its proprietor until they answered the occupation advert, they insisted.

They were sentenced, however, to 10 years successful jailhouse each - successful what was hailed arsenic 1 of the country's biggest busts.

But portion the haul was impressive, the antheral Brazilian constabulary regarded arsenic the large drawback got away.

They believed that the mastermind of the cognition was Fox, whose yacht was archetypal drawn to their attraction by a tip-off from the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA).

Brazilian constabulary judge helium was the person of the cognition to smuggle the drugs.

In August 2018, Fox was arrested successful Italy, wherever Brazilian constabulary filed extradition proceedings. They wanted him to beryllium returned to Brazil to reply the allegations against him.

But the paperwork arrived excessively late, and helium was freed - overmuch to the vexation of Brazilian constabulary inspector Andre Gonçalves.

He feared that Fox had subsequently gone into hiding.

"We were near with that feeling that aft each our work, we’d ne'er get to the bottommost of it," helium told the BBC. "It was very, precise frustrating."

Mr Gonçalves said his squad had kept some Fox and the yacht nether surveillance successful Brazil. They judge the "renovations" connected the vessel were partially to acceptable it with concealed compartments, and that the drugs were loaded connected to the vas earlier the sailors were hired.

Mr Gonçalves admits that astatine first, helium presumed the 4 sailors were progressive too.

"If idiosyncratic is connected a vessel that's afloat of drugs, you deliberation that idiosyncratic indispensable person thing to bash with it," helium said.

But arsenic helium dug into their backgrounds, helium could find thing antecedently linking them to the cause satellite oregon to Fox.

"The deeper I went I inactive couldn't find a connection… but astatine the aforesaid clip it strengthened the grounds we had against Fox."

The sailors' pleas of innocence besides got backing from an improbable root - chap Briton Robert Delbos, a antheral who was alleged to beryllium an accomplice of Fox.

Delbos, 71, is simply a convicted cause trafficker, having been jailed for 12 years successful 1988 for attempting to smuggle 1.5 tonnes of cannabis into the UK.

Before the Rich Harvest near Brazil, Mr Gonçalves's squad observed Delbos supervising the archetypal stages of the yacht's renovations.

They initially suspected helium was fitting concealed compartments, and filed palmy extradition proceedings for him astir the aforesaid clip arsenic those against Fox.

Delbos spent months successful a Brazilian supermax situation awaiting trial, but helium excessively said the drugs were aboriginal planted without his knowledge.

He was acquitted aft the justice successful his lawsuit ruled it could not beryllium proved that helium knew astir the smuggling plan.

In an interrogation with the BBC, helium claimed that adjacent cause traffickers had codes of ethics, and that Fox had violated them by utilizing guiltless sailors arsenic mules alternatively than hiring nonrecreational smugglers.

"This is wholly beyond the pale. I mean, you don't bash this," helium said.

"He was a anserine antheral who was greedy. Instead of paying the unit decently and getting himself a professional, bloody smuggling unit - helium hired 4 guiltless guys."

As doubts astir the sailors' guilt grew, their families began a run connected their behalf, which became a origin célèbre successful Brazil.

In 2019 their convictions successful Cape Verde were overturned, and they were allowed to spell home.

Fox, meanwhile, has ne'er faced trial, and returned to the UK.

The 41-year-old lives successful Norwich successful eastbound England wherever helium grew up, attended assemblage locally, and was an accomplished amateur yachtsman - sailing disconnected the adjacent Norfolk coast.

Today, helium resides successful a Norwich suburb and runs a spot firm.

He belonged to a section concern networking association, and connected his societal media provender past March, posted photos of himself with the city's past Lord Mayor, James Wright.

There is nary proposition that Mr Wright was alert of the accusations against Fox.

The BBC tracked Fox down arsenic helium arrived astatine 1 of his networking association's play concern breakfasts, astatine a Norwich hotel.

He declined to remark connected the Rich Harvest and the sailors' ordeal.

Asked astir the allegations that helium was a cause trafficker, helium replied: "I'm not."

An NCA spokesperson said if Brazilian constabulary inactive wished to prosecute the case, they would person to record an extradition request.

Brazil's ministry of justness said it did not remark connected idiosyncratic cases.

Meanwhile, Rodrigo Dantas and Daniel Guerra are trying to rebuild their lives successful Brazil, their dreams of becoming yacht captains abandoned.

Mr Dantas says helium struggled to find sailing enactment connected his instrumentality home, with immoderate employers assuming helium indispensable person been blameworthy aft all.

Mr Guerra’s round-the-world sailing ambitions "stayed locked up successful Cape Verde".

He says helium mislaid his quality to spot people, captious during the challenges connected immoderate agelong yacht voyage.

Even now, helium inactive wonders who Fox truly was - that "cool" British feline helium erstwhile felt truthful grateful to, whose occupation advert past turned his beingness upside down.

He says that helium would "really similar to spot justness done", but has nary privation to conscionable Fox ever again.

"If I conscionable him, it won’t beryllium maine who’s going to talk. It volition beryllium different Daniel. All the atrocious feelings I had successful jailhouse volition travel up and I won’t beryllium capable to beryllium a civilised person."

Coming successful October World of Secrets, Season 5: Finding Mr Fox.

A joint BBC Africa Eye, BBC Brasil and World of Secrets podcast probe into a crippled to smuggle cocaine valued astatine much $100m to Europe.