3. The Man in the Safari Suit

In 1983 a sleepy Pembrokeshire fishing village became the unlikely setting for an audacious drug smuggling plot worth millions of pounds. A gang of international drug runners planned to traffic tonnes of cannabis via the remote coastline of West Wales. But the smugglers overlooked one important thing: the inquisitive locals and dogged rural detectives who hunt them down.

The investigation leads the local police on an international adventure involving speed boats, supercars with hidden panels, mansions with buried treasure and a cast of eccentric characters. Told by the people who were there, this is the story of how a small Welsh community and a local police force came together to take on an international drugs ring.

In this third episode, with three suspects now in custody but the cannabis still missing, the detectives are in a race against time to prove the drugs smuggle is real. It’s an adventure that will lead them to a Rolls Royce driving cocaine dealer, mansions with buried treasure and the discovery of a yacht with a colourful history.

CREDITS Includes extracts from the book “Operation Seal Bay” by Pat Molloy Narrator: Hannah Daniel Producer and Editor: James Hale Executive Producer: Steve Robinson Researcher: Tane Rogers-Eirug Music and Sound Design: James Hale Additional Musicians: Lowri Mair Jones and Mark Foley Actors: Llinor ap Gwynedd, Aneirin Hughes, John Rowley, Gruff Harries and Scheiffer Bates Additional Mixing & Mastering: Hoot Studios

A Lazerbeam production for BBC Sounds.