Linea Directa 200 LEFT COL CAR INSURANCE

PROPERTY SEARCH

Date Published: 01/07/2026

British drug mule, 79, heads straight back to the Costa Blanca after years in jail

Roger Clarke, convicted of smuggling £1 million of cocaine from the Caribbean, has posted on social media that he is back in Alicante province

Roger Clarke is 79 years old, has served time in Portuguese and British prisons, and has just turned up on the Costa Blanca. The convicted drug mule, who was jailed alongside his late wife Susan for smuggling £1 million worth of cocaine into Europe on a cruise ship, has posted on Facebook claiming to have travelled to Rojales in Alicante province, just a short drive from Guardamar del Segura, where the couple once lived before their arrest.

The reaction from those who know the story has been one of disbelief. "Roger spent a long time in jail and it's taken its toll," a source said. "But the fact he's free and claiming he's jetting to Spain on holiday is staggering. You'd think he'd keep a low profile."

Clarke and his wife were arrested in December 2018 when the Marco Polo cruise liner docked in Lisbon. Portuguese authorities found cocaine stitched into the lining of their suitcases, brought back from the Caribbean. Both were sentenced to eight years. Clarke has always maintained he had no idea the drugs were there.

"A friend asked me to carry a suitcase back from the Caribbean," he said previously. "When we pulled into Lisbon the police came on and said 'Can we take a look in your suitcase?' I said 'Of course you can.' In the lining was cocaine. I was shocked. I had no idea."

What followed was grim. Susan was held in a Lisbon prison in a 10x10ft cell shared with three other inmates, while Clarke was held separately in the notorious EP Lisboa prison, a place he described as frightening. "There was a lot of violence," he said. "I was hit by a prison officer once because I refused to sign a document in Portuguese. I lost so much weight. There was nothing to do." At one point he reportedly wrote to then Prime Minister Boris Johnson begging for help.

Susan died of cancer in her prison cell aged 72, just days before Clarke was extradited to Britain to finish his sentence. Clarke has spoken with obvious grief about what happened. "My stupidity, that's what caused this," he said. "It won't bring my Susan back." He has also said that Portuguese authorities demanded £35,000 to repatriate her body, a sum he could not afford, leaving him no choice but to arrange a cremation for £1,500. He was unable to attend her funeral.

After his extradition, Clarke was moved to HMP Standford Hill in Kent, where he complained publicly about his treatment and claimed he should have been released at the halfway point of his sentence. His complaints led to a transfer to maximum security HMP High Down in Surrey. He also pursued a human rights compensation claim for nearly £60,000, alleging false imprisonment.

This was not the couple's first conviction. They had previously been jailed in Norway for smuggling 240 kilograms of cannabis using cruise ships as cover, fled on bail, changed their names, and were eventually traced and extradited after Clarke appeared in a local newspaper photograph.

Now he is back in familiar territory. Before their arrest, the couple were regulars at a bar and golf society near Guardamar del Segura. It seems, for Clarke at least, Spain still feels like home.

Image: Facebook

Linea Directa Bottom Article A-L CAR INSURANCE

Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox

Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)