OPERATION SEAL BAY

BBC SOUNDS PODCAST SERIES, December 2024

Celtic Media Festival 2026 Awards nominee. True Crime Awards 2025 nominee.

“Totally audacious, with a cast of charming, sharp-eyed locals.” VOGUE

“An intriguing new true-crime series.” FINANCIAL TIMES

“A brilliant podcast series, a real joy to listen to.” ADRIAN CHILES, BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

"It's a story that sounds almost too cinematic to be true, yet it unfolds with an authenticity that makes it irresistible.”PODCAST DELIVERY

In 1983, an audacious international drugs plot descended on the quiet fishing village of Newport in Pembrokeshire. A gang of sophisticated smugglers planned to land tonnes of cannabis on the remote Welsh coast — but their flashy cars, lavish spending and suspicious trips to isolated beaches quickly caught the attention of locals.

As sightings mount and a secret underground chamber is uncovered, rural Welsh detectives begin piecing together a conspiracy far bigger than anyone imagined. What follows is an extraordinary investigation that stretches from West Wales to the Isle of Man, France, Spain, Denmark and Morocco.

Featuring sailing yachts, hidden compartments, buried treasure and a cast of eccentric international criminals, this is the remarkable true story of how a small coastal community and a determined local police force brought down one of Britain’s most ambitious smuggling operations.

James Hale: composer and producer

Steve Robinson: executive producer

Hannah Daniel: narrator