Seized yacht and motor cruiser to be auctioned

Laura Hodgetts

The MV Albernina motor cruiser and 57ft yacht, 'Golem', seized in separate operations by law enforcement officials for smuggling firearms and class A drugs, are to be auctioned this evening in an unreserved Government auction.

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Seized drug and weapon smuggling boats – the 57ft yacht Golem and the 38ft motor cruiser Albernina – are being auctioned with no reserve today, Thursday 25 August, at 6pm in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Online bidding will also be available.

The boats will go under the hammer alongside a series of other high value lots in the Wilsons Auctions Unreserved Government & Property Auction, which will take place at the company’s Belfast branch.

Other items will include a range of luxury watches; Rolex, Breitling and Cartier, cars to include a Mercedes Benz C200 Sport, jet skis, diamond jewellery and a range of electronics.

The cocaine-carrying yacht Golem was intercepted off the Kent coast on 31 August

The yacht Golem. Credit: National Crime Agency

The Golem a 57ft Nordia sloop yacht was intercepted by government officials on 31 August 2015 carrying almost a tonne of cocaine across the Atlantic from the southern Caribbean. The sailors onboard were sentenced to more than 34 years in prison.

Forensic tests on the packages revealed the cocaine was 70 per cent pure, and if adulterated and sold in the UK would have had a potential street value of around £120million.

The yacht will be sold alongside the 38ft motor vessel (MV) Albernina which was used in the importation of firearms and resulted in the largest seizure of automatic weapons on the UK mainland.

Weapon smuggling motor vessel Albernina

Motor vessel Albernina. Credit: National Crime Agency

Visit http://www.wilsonsauctions.com/liquidation-disposals-search-results/1266 for details on all of the entries for this auction.

Online bidding will also be available. To register please call 028 9034 2626 or visit the auction company’s website and fill in the online form. Viewings for all of the vessels are strictly by appointment only.

Please note that Albernina and Nordia are currently moored in England.

Click here for more details on Albernina’s smuggling history.

Click here to find out more about Golem‘s drug smuggling past.

Wilsons Auctions is the largest independent auction company on the British Isles with branches spanning Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. The team also manage the whole asset realisation process for private and public sector and law enforcement agencies across the UK and Ireland.