More than 100 years in jail for crime group after £40m cocaine sea drop
Twelve people sentenced following National Crime Agency investigation
Members of a crime group responsible for smuggling 500kg of cocaine worth £40m have been sentenced to over 100 years in jail.
The sentences were handed down at Portsmouth Crown Court following a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation into the group's smuggling activities.
On 19th August 2024, officers intercepted the group at Medmerry Beach near Selsey, West Sussex, as they attempted to retrieve 16 bales of cocaine from the ocean.
The drugs had been dropped into the sea days earlier by accomplices aboard a container ship, roughly 40 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight.
Crime group leaders Daniel Jamieson, 41, and Sam Brown, 33, received 22 years and 16 years six months respectively.
Jamieson ran a maritime business under a false name, securing a Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boat (RHIB) for the drugs recovery operation.
Brown, a recruiter for the group, was involved in separate drug supply activities and was sentenced after pleading guilty.
Other key players include Carl Powner, sentenced to 13 years, and Adil Nolan, sentenced to 11 years and three months.
Oil rig worker David Paterson, involved in an earlier failed recovery attempt, was sentenced to 14 years.
Lewis Watts, Jamieson's right-hand man, was jailed for 14 years for coordinating the smuggling operation.
Five others, involved in offloading the drugs at the beach, received various sentences, including suspended terms for Charlotte Blenman.
The NCA highlighted the success of the operation in preventing the drugs from causing harm and violence across UK communities.