TWO men who smuggled £2.5million pounds of cocaine into south Essex have been jailed for 14 years.

Colombians Fredy Paz Preciado, 30, and 37-year-old James Quinones hid on the container ship for 12 days over Christmas last year.

The ship set sail from Colombia on December 15, stopping at Rotterdam, before travelling on to Tilbury.

The pair were discovered en route to Tilbury when a crew member heard a knocking from one of the hatches leading to the ship’s hold.

The men were found below in the tiny area where they had been living – along with packages containing 50 kilos of cocaine.

In preparation for their escape from the ship once it docked at the Essex port, both men were wearing wetsuits under their clothes and had bags, mobile phones and GPS co-ordinates to get back to Rotterdam.

When they were arrested, they claimed they had stowed away to flee their homeland.

They denied any knowledge of the drugs, but forensic tests by the UK Border Agency confirmed sticky tape on packaging around the cocaine matched tape found on their bags.

After an eight-day trial at Basildon Crown Court, Preciado and Quinones were found guilty of possessing a controlled substance in international waters, and jailed for 14 years.

Jim Jarvie, deputy director of the UK Border Agency’s crime directorate, said: “Our investigation team was able to demonstrate to the court a direct link between the defendants and the drugs.

“This forensic evidence was absolutely the key to us securing today’s convictions. We believe their plan was to stash the drugs in the bags and throw them off the ship when they reached the co-ordinates programmed into the phone, but they got stuck.”