These are the two men who hatched an elaborate James Bond-style plot to smuggle cocaine into the UK on a ship bound for Hunterston.

The Dutchmen provided a specialist drug retrieval service for organised crime groups.

Henri van Doesburg, 68, from Aalsmeer, masterminded a plan to use a high-speed underwater scooter to recover 108 kilos of cocaine hidden in the rudder area of the Colombian cargo ship Cape Maria anchored near Hunterston.

His plan was stopped by a multi-agency operation earlier this year.

National Crime Agency investigators arrested Van Doesburg’s son Roderick, 23, from Aalsmeer, his grandson Darryl-Jay, 22, also from Aalsmeer, and Arnold van Milt, aged 49, from Amsterdam, at Seamill Hydro Hotel on the evening of 9 May.

Investigators seized the underwater scooter, a rigid hulled inflatable boat with a powerful engine, wetsuits and diving equipment.

A specialist Border Force “deep rummage” team and divers from Police Scotland’s Marine Policing Unit had recovered the cocaine earlier in the day following an extensive search of the ship. They also found pieces of cut rope in the rudder area indicating the hide had been used before.

Van Doesburg, who was in constant contact with Van Milt using an encrypted BlackBerry, was tracking the ship on his home computer.

He was apprehended by the Rotterdam Hit and Run Cargo Team the following day, and was later extradited to the UK to face trial.

Dutch officers had observed meetings between Van Doesburg and two English men at a café in Amsterdam on 8 May. They heard references to “diving” and “got 120”. They recovered sheets of notepaper showing calculations and telephone numbers.

Van Doesburg and Van Milt were found guilty of conspiracy to import cocaine following a four-week trial at Leeds Crown Court. They were sentenced to 20 and 16 years respectively. The jury found Van Doesburg’s son Roderick and grandson Darryl-Jay not guilty.

Full story on page 23