Two Liverpool men are among a gang of 12 criminals jailed for more than 100 years after plotting to smuggle £40m worth of cocaine into the UK. The organised crime group arranged for 500kg of cocaine to be dropped into the sea from a container ship before attempting to recover the drugs and bring them ashore.
The gang members were sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on Thursday and Friday, November 6, following a major investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Drugs recovered at Medmerry Beach
NCA officers were lying in wait when members of the group brought 16 bales of cocaine, with a purity of around 85%, onto Medmerry Beach near Selsey, West Sussex, on August 19, 2024. The drugs are believed to have been dropped into the sea several days earlier, around 40 nautical miles south of the Needles, west of the Isle of Wight.
They had been placed in waterproof bundles, each fitted with a GPS tracker, and dropped from a container ship by an accomplice crew.
Ringleaders jailed
The gang's ringleaders were Daniel Jamieson, 41, and Sam Brown, 33, who were jailed for 22 years and 16 years and six months respectively. Jamieson, of Heath Road, Ramsden Heath, Essex, posed as a legitimate businessman and used a false name to buy a maritime business. This allowed him to get hold of the 'Amma Sigga', a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), which was used in the operation to recover the cocaine. He was convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine following a trial.
Brown, who lived in Wykeham Street, Kirkdale, during the conspiracy, admitted the same offence and played a key role in recruiting others to the plot. Originally from Essex, with links to Basildon and Laindon, Brown enlisted the help of his friend Harry Kennedy, 38, who lived on the same street in Kirkdale. Kennedy became involved on August 18, 2024, after Brown asked him to help move the cocaine once it had been brought ashore. Messages recovered by investigators showed the pair were also involved in drug supply activities separate from the conspiracy. Kennedy admitted conspiracy to smuggle cocaine and was jailed for nine years.
Another key member of the gang was Carl Powner, 62, of Park Road, Stoke-on-Trent, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Powner recruited drivers, bought equipment and took part in the operation to recover the drugs aboard the Amma Sigga. He initially escaped arrest and fled abroad, but was traced by the NCA and arrested in Romania in May this year before being extradited to the UK.
Failed recovery attempt
He recovered the cocaine from the sea alongside Adil Nolan, 40, of Maureen Walk, Fazakerley. Nolan admitted conspiracy to smuggle cocaine and was jailed for 11 years and three months. The operation had initially been attempted several days earlier by oil rig worker David Paterson, 49, of Viking Way, Peterhead, near Aberdeen.
In the early hours of August 17, Paterson set sail from Haslar Marina in Portsmouth and headed into international waters in an attempt to retrieve the cocaine. He was supposed to locate the bundles and bring them back to shore, where the gang planned to distribute the drugs to other criminal groups across the UK. But the operation went wrong when the container ship sailed past Paterson, who was relying on WhatsApp instructions from accomplice Lewis Watts, 37, who was on shore.
Watts messaged him: "Big ship has passed you, flash lights." As Paterson struggled to locate the vessel, Watts became increasingly desperate, adding: "Big ship has passed you, chase it and flash lights." The ship continued on its journey, leaving Paterson to search for the cocaine using the GPS trackers attached to the bundles. However, the trackers had failed to transmit a signal, leaving him unable to locate the drugs. Paterson returned to shore empty-handed several hours later. He was convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine following a trial and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Watts, of Toronto Road, Tilbury, Essex, was Jamieson's right-hand man and played a central role in organising the conspiracy. He controlled a prepaid credit card used to fund the operation, sourced potential landing locations for the RHIB, researched and bought equipment, helped prepare the boat and acted as a go-between for other members of the gang. He was also convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine following a trial and jailed for 14 years.
Other offenders sentenced
Five further offenders were involved in the operation to bring the cocaine ashore at Medmerry Beach. All were convicted of assisting an organised crime group. Charlotte Blenman, 34, of Shelley Road East, Boscombe, Bournemouth, was given a 20-month prison sentence, 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 each jailed for 20 months.
Jules Harriman, the NCA's 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."
