Decade in jail as Spanish men sentenced for cocaine bust

THE men behind one of the country’s biggest cocaine busts in history will not have even the possibility of freedom until well into the next decade.

AFP and Customs swoop on Friday Freedom. Picture: Max Fleet

THE men behind one of the country's biggest cocaine busts in history will not have even the possibility of freedom until well into the next decade after facing court for the 2011 crime in which 276kg of cocaine was imported into Bundaberg on a yacht.

Ivan Maria Ramos-Valea, 37, pleaded guilty to importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug while Miguel Angel Sanchez-Barrocal, 41, and Jose Herrero-Calvo, 40 each pleaded guilty to a count of possessing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug.

The three were arrested on November 11, 2011 when members of the Australian Federal Police - who had been monitoring them for months - swooped. Officers pulled over the two cars in which they were driving on Burnett Heads Rd, and in which they were carrying 85kg of the cocaine.

During the sentencing in Bundaberg Supreme Court, it was submitted that all three men had clean criminal records both in Australia and Spain.

But the prosecutor pointed to evidence that suggested Herrero-Calvo might have committed a similar crime of importing drugs in the past; a suggestion with which Justice Duncan McMeekin agreed.

"There are several statements that make it pretty plain ... that the prior conduct was similar to what is charged," he said.

Barrister Robert East appeared for Ramos-Valea, who was responsible for sailing the Friday Freedom from Vanuatu to Bundaberg with $185 million of cocaine cleverly concealed inside the hull.

His then girlfriend, Julia Maria Boada Fernandez, was aboard the yacht and while she had no clue about the drugs, was arrested. She served nearly two years in jail for a crime she didn't commit before being acquitted by a jury and returning to Spain in August this year.

"It's unsurprising that he feels deep remorse for having involved her," Mr East said. "He was prepared to do whatever he could to ensure the truth so far as it concerned her came out."

Ramos-Valea was sentenced to 25 years' jail without the possibility of parole for 13 years.

Herrero-Calvo was sentenced to 18 years' jail with a non-parole period of 10 years, and Sanchez Barrocal was jailed for 17 years with a non-parole period of nine years.

All three have already served 745 days in custody, which was declared as time served on their sentences.