CLIFTON ROCHESTER, a British citizen who masterminded a multi-million dollar cocaine ring from Jamaica to London, was sentenced to 14 years in prison in a court in Bristol, England, on Monday.
According to a report on the British Broadcasting Corporation's Caribbean radio website, Rochester admitted to conspiracy to import and supply cocaine, deception and money laundering offences.
Prior to handing down sentence, Judge Simon Darwall-Smith told Rochester that he had used 'obscene profits' to enjoy a lifestyle of extravagance.
COURIERS USED
The British police report that Rochester operated the smuggling ring from his base in London, using couriers to transport cocaine from Jamaica to the United Kingdom where it was sold in Bristol, a port city in southern England.
Four of those couriers, including a former Miss Jamaica contestant, were given prison sentences earlier this year. Marsha Paragonsingh, who placed third in the 1998 Miss Jamaica pageant, was sentenced to seven years in prison for importing cocaine.
She was arrested along with two men by members of Britain's National Crime Squad in London in July 2003.
