The trial of two Italians accused of belonging to an international drug trafficking network began on Wednesday in Madeira, with one of the defendants refusing to testify and the other stating that “he knew nothing”.
Guido Consigli, 60, and Claudio Paradisi, 54, were arrested on 25 June 2020, in Funchal marina, where they arrived on a New Zealand-flagged sailboat from Martinique, in the Caribbean, carrying 326 kilos of cocaine with a “high degree of purity”.
According to the indictment, the two were part of an international cocaine trafficking network, which transported cocaine between South America and Europe, and at the time they were arrested by the Judicial Police, they were aware that they were carrying drugs on the boat and that their conduct was prohibited and punishable by law.
The Italians are charged with the crime of aggravated drug trafficking.
Guido Consigli, owner and captain of the Goldmund sailboat, who is in custody in Funchal, told the panel of judges, chaired by Fernanda Sequeira, that he will only make statements when he is in possession of the translation of the case into Italian, although the trial will take place with the presence of a translator.
Claudio Paradisi, who is at liberty with an electronic tag, said he had “nothing to do” with the facts described in the indictment and denied being part of an international drug trafficking network.
“The drugs were on board the sailboat, but I knew nothing about it”, he said, stressing that when he learnt of this, at the time of his arrest, he simply thought that they had “ruined his life”.
The accused, who had been hired by the owner of the sailboat in 2019, performed duties as a mechanic and cook and had no knowledge of navigation, even stating that he was afraid to travel on the high seas, but took the job because he was going through a period of financial difficulties.
The first trip he made aboard Goldmund was in 2019, between Malaga, Spain, and São Salvador da BaÃa, Brazil, and then returned to Italy in December of that year to spend Christmas with his family.
Claudio Paradisi said he returned by air in January 2020 to Brazil, where the sailboat carried out tours for tourists, but the work was affected by the pandemic and he was unable to return to Italy by plane.
The accused also said he did not know when the 326 kilos of cocaine were introduced on the boat and placed in a compartment in the stern, which he said he never entered because it was not necessary for his duties on board.
The seizure of the 326 kilos of cocaine in June 2020 followed an operation “of international nature”, carried out by the Judicial Police in cooperation with the National Unit for Combating Drug Trafficking (UNCTE), and was one of the largest carried out in Madeira.
The most significant had happened about two years before, also on a boat, in Calheta marina, west of the island, which resulted in the seizure of 600 kilos of cocaine.
The trial of Guido Consigli and Claudio Paradisi continues on 27 October.
