A pilot on trial for smuggling £22million of cocaine into Southend Airport told Basildon Crown Court jury of his amazing undercover work for spy agencies.
Rochford-born Christopher Barrett-Jolley, 55, stands accused with three other men of smuggling cocaine.
Six suitcases packed with the drug were allegedly dropped from the Boeing 707 he was piloting as it taxied on to a Southend runway in October last year.
Barrett-Jolley said he had been working for "an arm of the CIA", Air America.
On a previous mission for the group, he said he'd helped recover a large amount of US currency and government bonds from the Philippines.
He told the court that Air America asked him to fly six cargo boxes containing the documents to the Cayman Islands, in the Caribbean. This was part of the plan to return them to the USA.
Barrett-Jolley also told the court of other exploits while working for the secret services. He claimed he'd once been asked by Britain's MI6 to bring a captured guided missile and launcher from Russia to England for analyses.
Barrett-Jolley said he also worked extensively during the Gulf War, bringing our embassy staff and other Brits back to this country.
The trial continues.
Published Thursday October 24, 2002
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