Drug peddlers jailed for more than 100 years after trying to smuggle £12m of cocaine dropped into sea
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The narcotics were dropped in international waters, with police officers setting an ambush when they were brought to shore
Opportunistic drug smugglers who tried to bring masses of cocaine into the country after they were dropped into the sea have been jailed.
Members of an organised crime group (OCG) have been sentenced to more than 100 years in jail. A total of 12 criminals who plotted to bring £40m of Class A drugs into the country were sentenced on November 5 and 6 at Portsmouth Crown Court.
One of them tried to recover the drugs from international waters from Haslar Marina in Gosport. Officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) were waiting to pounce on the crime group when they brought 16 bales of cocaine onto Medmerry Beach near Selsey, West Sussex, after recovering them from the ocean. This took place on August 19, 2024.
The drug had a purity of 85 per cent. It’s believed the drugs were dropped into the water a few days earlier about 40 nautical miles south of the Needles, to the west of the Isle of Wight, by an accomplice crew aboard a container ship. Waterproof bundles were spotted, each fitted with a GPS tracker.
Daniel Jamieson, 41, of Heath Road in Ramsden Heath, Essex, and Sam Brown, 33, of Wykeham Street, Kirkdale, Liverpool, were the crime gang bosses. They were sentenced to 22 years and 16 years and six months respectively.
Jamieson masqueraded as a legitimate businessman. Using a false name, he bought a maritime business to get his hands on a ‘Amma Sigga’, a Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boat (RHIB) to recover the drugs. He was convicted at trial of conspiring to smuggle cocaine.
Brown admitted the same charge and played a key role in recruiting others. The cocaine user, originally from Essex with links to Basildon and Laindon, enlisted the help of his friend Harry Kennedy, 38, who lived on the same street in Liverpool.
He became involved in the plot on August 18, 2024, when Brown asked him to help move the cocaine once ashore. Messages between the pair recovered during the investigation showed the two men were also involved in the supply of drugs separately from this investigation. Kennedy pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle cocaine and was jailed for nine years.
Carl Powner, 62, of Park Road, Stoke-on-Trent, was sentenced to 13 years behind bars. He was a key offender in the group, recruiting drivers for the OCG and purchasing equipment.
He also sailed out in the Amma Sigga to recover the drugs. Powner managed to escape arrest and fled abroad. But after an NCA investigation to trace him, he was arrested in Romania in May this year and extradited to face justice.
He recovered the drugs from the sea with Adil Nolan, 40, of Maureen Walk, Fazakerley, Liverpool. Like Powner, Nolan admitted conspiracy to smuggle cocaine, and was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison.
Oil rig worker David Paterson, 49, of Viking Way, Peterhead near Aberdeen, had tried to recover the drugs from the water a few days before they were actually found by Powner and Nolan. In the early hours of August 17, 2024, he sailed from Haslar Marina in Gosport to international waters.
Paterson was supposed to retrieve the drugs and return them to shore where the OCG would sell them to other crime groups, but the container ship the drugs were dropped from sailed past him. He was taking directions via WhatsApp from accomplice Lewis Watts, 37, who was ashore.
“Big ship has passed you, flash lights,” he instructed Paterson. Increasingly desperate, Watts added: “Big ship has passed you, chase it and flash lights.”
The container ship sailed on leaving Paterson to locate the drugs from the trackers – but the trackers had failed and were not sending a signal. Paterson returned to shore empty handed several hours later. He was convicted by the jury of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine and jailed for 14 years.
Watts, of Toronto Road, Tilbury, Essex, was Jamieson’s right-hand man and instrumental to the conspiracy. He took charge of a prepaid credit card that was set up to fund the operations.
He sourced locations for the RHIB to land, researched and purchased equipment, assisted in the boat’s set up and acted as a go between for conspirators in real life and online. Watts was convicted at trial of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine and jailed for 14 years.
Five other offenders were part of the landing party on Medmerry Beach. They were convicted of assisting an organised crime group. Charlotte Blenman, 34 of Shelley Road East, Boscombe, Bournemouth, was sentenced to 20 months suspended for two years.
Roy Harmer, 46, of Chine Road, Bournemouth; Neil Pinchbeck, 43, of Pearce Road, Poole; Thomas Stewart, 40, of Carpenter Close, Peterborough, and Ricky Platt, 49, of Westby Road, Boscombe, Dorset, were all sentenced to 20 months in jail. NCA officers were supported by Merseyside Police, West Mercia Police, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary and Sussex Police.
Jules Harriman, NCA senior investigating officer, said: “The main players from this conspiracy are facing very long periods behind bars. Had their smuggling attempt worked, these toxic drugs would have brought misery and violence to many communities around the country.
“The crime group responsible for supplying these offenders has lost their drugs and massive profits that can no longer be ploughed back into further offending. Working with partners such as Border Force, the NCA will continue to do all it can to protect the public from the threat of Class A drugs.”