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3d ago

Four Men Sentenced to 90 Years for £100m Cocaine Smuggling Operation

The traffickers used a fishing boat, the Lily Lola, to transport over a tonne of high-purity cocaine before being intercepted off Cornwall in a coordinated law enforcement operation.

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Overview

  • The Lily Lola was intercepted by Border Force off Newquay in September 2024, carrying 1,076kg of cocaine with a street value of £100m.
  • Jon Williams, Patrick Godfrey, Michael Kelly, and Jake Marchant received sentences of 26, 25, 21, and 18 years respectively, totaling 90 years in prison.
  • The National Crime Agency (NCA) and Border Force collaborated to prevent the drugs, valued at £35m wholesale, from reaching UK streets.
  • The operation involved surveillance and intelligence gathering, uncovering messages and a tracker linked to South America, highlighting the global nature of the smuggling network.
  • The men attempted to disguise their operation as a fishing trip, but evidence presented in court revealed their roles in a well-organized trafficking scheme.