Seven cocaine smugglers have been jailed for more than 130 years, after their plot to smuggle drugs worth millions into the UK was foiled by Border Force and the National Crime Agency (NCA).

The final member of the group was today [12 September] jailed for 16 years, after his cohorts were previously sentenced to more than 114 years in prison.

Alex Fowlie, 35, of Chichester was responsible for purchasing a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) used by members of the group to collect cocaine worth £18.4m off the coast of Cornwall on 13 September 2024.

Edwin Yahir Tabora Baca, 33, of Barcelona, Spain, Scott Johnston, 38, and Peter Williams, 43 – both of Havant – were on board the cocaine-laden boat when Border Force officers off the coast of Newquay, Cornwall spotted it.

Officers suspected the boat had drugs on board, collected from a larger ship at sea, and tried to intercept it. As the officers approached the RHIB, it sped off and a 28-mile chase unfolded during which the RHIB’s crew threw packages into the water.

After an hour-long pursuit, the boat ran aground on Gwynver Beach, Penzance and all three men were caught and arrested by officers.

Six large bales were recovered from the sea, containing around 230kg of powder which specialist analysts identified as high-purity cocaine.

The NCA subsequently began an investigation and, by trawling through CCTV footage, call data and phone messages, they identified that Fowlie; Michael May, 48, of Brentwood; Terry Willis, 44, of Chelmsford and Bobbie Pearce, 29, of Brentwood had helped organise collection of the cocaine.

After arresting these four men, investigators found audio messages on Fowlie’s phone which revealed that within days of his co-conspirators being arrested on Gwyner beach, he began organising further at-sea drug collections.

In recordings sent on 16 September, Fowlie told an unidentified contact that he could collect up to “one tonne” and claimed that there was “zero f*cking risk” in the method.

To the contrary, the men on the boat – Williams, Johnston and Tabora Baca – were jailed for 16 years and nine months; 24 years; and 17 years and seven months respectively.

May, Willis, and Pearce, whose roles included lying in wait on the Cornish coast where they expected the cocaine to be dropped off to them, were jailed for 19 years; 21 years and eight months; and 15 years and four months respectively.

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