A gang of drugs smugglers who led the Border Force on a 28-mile chase after their cocaine-laden boat was spotted by officers have been jailed for more than 82 years in total.
Peter Williams and Scott Johnston, both from Havant, and Edwin Yahir Tabora Baca, of Barcelona, were arrested after their boat ran aground on Gwynver Beach near Penzance in Cornwall, in September.
They had been trying to smuggle cocaine worth £18.4m into the UK, throwing packages of the banned substance overboard during the pursuit.
Six large bales, weighing around 230kg, of high-purity cocaine were recovered from the sea.
After their boat ran aground, the men ran off but were quickly caught by officers who chased them on foot and arrested them.
Alex Fowlie, of Chichester, Bobbie Pearce, of Brentwood, Michael May, of Brentwood, and Terry Willis, of Chelmsford, were convicted after National Crime Agency (NCA) officers used CCTV footage, call data and phone messages to identify the quartet.
Johnston, 38, was sentenced to 24 years in jail at Truro Crown Court, while Willis, 44, and May, 47, have been handed sentences of 21 years and eight months, and 19 years, respectively.
Tabora Baca, 33, has been given 17 years and seven months in jail.
Williams, 43, and Pearce, 29, will be sentenced on 21 August. Fowlie, 35, will be sentenced on 5 September.
All seven men initially denied the charges, and Tabora Baca even claimed to be a tourist who had accepted an invitation from two strangers – Williams and Johnston – to go fishing.
But officers recovered messages from his phone discussing the group’s plans and sharing a photo of the cocaine onboard their rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB).
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Five of the men later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import Class A drugs, including Willis, who also pleaded guilty to money laundering and possession of a firearm – relating to a revolver and ammunition found at his home address by NCA officers.
May and Johnston, who pleaded not guilty, were found guilty of conspiracy to import Class A drugs, following a two-week trial at Truro Crown Court in June.
