Eleven roadmen got themselves tangled up in a mad ting at sea, bruv. The National Crime Agency (NCA) dropped the hammer on a crew that nearly lost 500kg of cocaine worth £40 million after their GPS trackers went kaput.
David Paterson, 49, set sail from Haslar Marina in Portsmouth to retrieve the drugs dumped 40 nautical miles off the Isle of Wight. The plan was simple: follow the trackers and fish out the waterproof bundles. But when the big ship sailed past him, Paterson was left floundering 😭.
Back on shore, Lewis Watts, 37, frantically messaged Paterson via WhatsApp: "Big ship has passed you, flash lights!" No dice. The trackers failed, and Paterson returned empty-handed.
The next morning, the trackers came back online, and Adil Nolan, 40, took over in the RHIB 'Amma Sigga'. He and his crew finally snagged the cocaine but were met by law enforcement on Medmerry Beach. Seven members of the OCG had already admitted their roles, and today, a jury at Portsmouth Crown Court convicted four more.
Daniel Jamieson, 41, and Sam Brown, 33, were the bosses. Jamieson, a legit businessman in disguise, bought a maritime business to get the RHIB. Brown, from Liverpool, recruited others and was a key player in the plot. Both were convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine.
The NCA's Jules Harriman laid it out: "This was a large seizure of cocaine and represents a serious loss for the crime group. We’ve prevented these toxic drugs from reaching UK streets where they poison people’s lives."