Drug smugglers jailed after 28-mile speedboat chase

Two drug smugglers have been jailed for their part in a 28-mile speedboat chase with Border Force off the Cornish coast.

Peter Williams, 43, from Havant, and Bobbie Pearce, 29, from Brentwood, were sentenced to 16 years and nine months and 15 years and four months respectively at Truro Crown Court. Four of their accomplices were jailed for a total of more than 82 years earlier this month.

Three of the group were arrested in September 2024 when their rigid-hulled inflatable speedboat ran aground on Gwynver Beach near Penzance in Cornwall. The court heard they had been pursued for around an hour by Border Force officers who initially spotted them off the coast of Newquay, and suspected the boat had collected drugs from a larger ship at sea.

As the officers approached the boat, it sped off, beginning a chase during which the gang threw packages into the water. Six large bales were recovered from the sea, containing around 230kg of powder, later identified as high-purity cocaine, the court was told.

A further four men who helped plan and organise the collection of the cocaine worth £18.4m have also been convicted, following the National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation. On 1 August, Scott Johnston, 38, from Havant; Edwin Yahir Tabora Baca, 33, from Barcelona in Spain; Michael May, 47, from Brentwood; and Terry Willis, 44, from Chelmsford were jailed for between 17 and 24 years at Truro Crown Court.

The final member of their organised crime group, Alex Fowlie, 35, from Chichester, will be sentenced on 5 September. Williams, Johnston, and Baca were arrested when their boat ran aground.

NCA officers then trawled through CCTV footage, call data and phone messages as part of their evidence gathering, linking Fowlie, Pearce, May, and Willis to the smuggling operation. Pearce, May and Willis' roles included lying in wait on the Cornish coast on 13 September, where they expected the cocaine to be dropped off to them.

Fowlie was responsible for purchasing the boat. Five of the men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import Class A drugs, while May and Johnston were found guilty of the same offence after a trial.

Willis also pleaded guilty to money laundering and possession of a firearm. NCA senior investigating officer, Barry Vinall, said: "These are substantial sentences for six men who didn't care about the misery cocaine causes, they just wanted to make a profit.

"Cocaine is one of the most harmful illegal drugs in the UK, linked to thousands of deaths and fuelling violent crime that wrecks communities and lives. "Working together, Border Force stopped cocaine worth millions from making it onto UK streets and the National Crime Agency ensured that the group behind its importation faced justice.".