A Scots oil rig worker has been convicted over a cocaine smuggling plot worth £40 million after a botched mission to recover half a tonne of drugs dumped into the sea. David Paterson was found guilty of conspiring to smuggle cocaine following a National Crime Agency investigation.
Botched recovery attempt
Jurors heard the 49-year-old from Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, sailed from Haslar Marina in Portsmouth in the early hours of August 17, 2024, aboard a rigid-hulled inflatable boat named Amma Sigga. The plan was to retrieve around 500kg of cocaine investigators believe had been dropped into international waters by accomplices aboard a container ship around 40 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight.
The drugs, worth an estimated £40 million on the streets, had been packed into waterproof bundles fitted with GPS trackers. But the operation unravelled when the trackers failed to transmit their location, leaving Paterson and two other men unable to find the shipment.
Second mission and arrests
Paterson was directed via WhatsApp by gang member Lewis Watts, who urged him to catch up with the container ship. After hours of searching, the crew returned empty-handed. The following morning, the trackers began working again, prompting a second recovery mission on August 18. Adil Nolan skippered the boat back to sea, where a fresh crew successfully recovered 16 bales of cocaine with a purity of around 85 per cent.
National Crime Agency officers had been monitoring the operation. As the boat landed on Medmerry Beach near Selsey, West Sussex, law enforcement officers seized the entire haul before it could be distributed to organised crime groups across the UK.
Convictions and sentencing
Paterson was one of 11 people convicted over the conspiracy. The ringleaders, Daniel Jamieson, 41, and Sam Brown, 33, orchestrated the operation, while seven conspirators had already admitted their roles before trial. Paterson was convicted by a jury at Portsmouth Crown Court and will be sentenced on November 5.
Charlotte Blenman, 34, was cleared of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine but convicted of assisting an organised crime group. NCA senior investigating officer Jules Harriman said: "This was a large seizure of cocaine and represents a serious loss for the crime group. Their profits can no longer be ploughed back into further offending and we've prevented these toxic drugs from reaching UK streets where they poison people's lives."
All those convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine are due to be sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on November 5, while those convicted of assisting an organised crime group will be sentenced the following day.
