Robert Dawes trial: Drugs talk was 'just a script'
A British man accused of being an "international drugs kingpin" has claimed he knew he was being recorded when he spoke about a cocaine shipment.
Mr Dawes, 46, from Nottinghamshire, was arrested in Spain in 2015 for his involvement in trafficking 1.3 tonnes of the Class A drug into Europe. He told a special court, composed only of judges, in Paris, that a taped conversation was "just a script". Mr Dawes denies all the charges. The trial is expected to end on Friday. 'Heavy-handed surveillance' His home in Benalmadena, Andalusia, was searched after the discovery of suitcases of cocaine on a flight to France, from Venezuela, in 2013. The court was told the raid followed a filmed conversation at a hotel in Madrid, where he claimed ownership of the drugs. During questioning on Tuesday, Mr Dawes claimed he knew he was being recorded and that what he said was a ploy to get himself arrested to end "heavy-handed surveillance" by Spanish police. "That was all a script," he told the court. "I spoke about airports, shipping ports, like I was involved in something." When asked if he knew about a hidden microphone, Mr Dawes replied: "That's why I told Cepeda [Colombian associate, Fernando Cepeda] on the telephone three times, sit in the same place." Mr Dawes denied any involvement in the Air France shipment in which 30 unregistered suitcases containing cocaine passed through security scanners in Caracas. He also said he had no connection to two other Britons on trial, Nathan Wheat and Kane Price, and three Italians Marco Panetta, Vincenzo Aprea and Carmine Russo, who were arrested in the operation. The state prosecutor announced that Mr Dawes's defence team had submitted a forged document, trying to prove that Spanish police had no legal authority to make the surveillance video. Mr Dawes could face 30 years in prison and fines of up to 7.5m euros (£6.7m) if convicted. The court previously heard that he started off as a petty criminal in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, and was 11 when he was first convicted of a crime. The trial continues. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.