Drug traffickers recruited hackers to breach IT systems that controlled the movement and location of containers.
Police carried out a series of raids in Belgium and Holland earlier this year, seizing computer-hacking equipment as well as large quantities of cocaine and heroin, guns and a suitcase full of cash.
Fifteen people are currently awaiting trial in the two countries.
Mr Wainwright says the alleged plot demonstrates how the internet is being used as a “freelance marketplace” in which drug trafficking groups recruit hackers to help them carry out cyber-attacks “to order”.
“[The case] is an example of how organised crime is becoming more enterprising, especially online,” he says.