The middleman for an international drug cartel involved in a $27 million cocaine plot which terminated in Dunedin has pleaded guilty. The Portuguese national pleaded guilty to attempting to take possession of the class-A drug for the purpose of supply and will be sentenced in May. On August 3, 2022, the 254m container ship Spirit of Auckland was transiting through Philadelphia when authorities seized two duffel bags containing 91kg of cocaine from an intake grate under the vessel. By the time the ship docked in Melbourne four weeks later, Ferreira-Sampaio had flown in from Portugal and recruited Hodder to fetch the narcotics. As Spirit of Auckland entered the shipping channel, Ferreira-Sampaio used a radio to inform Hodder of its progress.
