Five men have been jailed at Hove Crown Court over a 425kg cocaine haul seized from the New Horizon at Eastbourne Marina. The NCA values it at £34m, though the prosecution put the wholesale value at more than £9m.
Bodycam footage has captured the moment armed National Crime Agency (NCA) officers found a cocaine smuggler hiding in a kitchen cupboard on a fishing boat. Officers raided the New Horizon at Eastbourne Marina in June and recovered 425kg of cocaine. Five men were jailed at Hove Crown Court on Friday 23 October. Alan Colquhoun, 49, from Alloa, and William Donohoe, 38, from Airdrie, received 16 years each, reduced from 24 for early guilty pleas.
The footage
The clip shows two NCA officers boarding the vessel and searching it. As they open a kitchen cupboard door, they find Daniel Ruffell inside. An officer points a firearm and shouts: “Walk towards me, now. Show me your hands, get out and get down on the floor – do it now.”
Ruffell is then seen lying on the deck as he is handcuffed. A female officer asks: “Is there anyone else in there?” Ruffell replies: “No.”
The sentences
All five men admitted their roles, and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it had secured guilty pleas from every defendant. The sentences were:
| Defendant | Sentence | Before plea reduction |
|---|---|---|
| Alan Colquhoun, 49, Alloa | 16 years | 24 years |
| William Donohoe, 38, Airdrie | 16 years | 24 years |
| Ian Smith, 50, East Sussex | 12 years | 18 years |
| Daniel Ruffell, Berkshire | 8 years | 12 years |
| Jacob Cronin, 32, East Sussex | 6 years 8 months | 10 years |
Ruffell has 21 convictions for 43 previous offences. Cronin has no previous convictions, according to Sussex News, and Judge Jeremy Gold acknowledged this, along with his limited involvement, when sentencing. Sussex News reports that the judge called the 425kg consignment “off the scale”. He said guidelines place importations of 5kg or more in the highest harm category, and this was 85 times that threshold. He acknowledged that all five had behaved well on remand.
How the plot worked
The court heard that Colquhoun and Donohoe were the ringleaders. They directed the other men and liaised with the crime group that had trafficked the drugs from abroad. They carried out reconnaissance along the south coast and worked out where best to land the cocaine. They hired a van in Scotland, falsely saying it was to move pub stock, and drove it south to collect the haul. They also recruited Smith, the New Horizon’s skipper and a fisherman, to sail out and find the drugs.
Colquhoun joined Smith, Cronin and Ruffell on the boat. Donohoe stayed on land and was arrested at a petrol station. Ruffell acted as lookout for the organised crime group. He owed it a significant debt and joined the crew to pay it off. Cronin, a fisherman by trade, helped prepare the boat before it sailed.
Value, nicknames and delivery plans
The NCA put the cocaine’s value at £34m. According to Sussex News, the prosecution’s evidence said the wholesale value exceeded £9m. The two figures measure different stages of the market. The court heard that each Scottish organiser expected to be paid £40,000, or £80,000 in total.
Prosecutor Hugh French said the two organisers used the nicknames “Navigate” and “Bruce Wayne”. It was not reported which belonged to whom. Donohoe’s barrister, Daniel Frier, said his client had been told to take the haul to a padel court car park after the boat returned. He argued that the pair were taking instructions from higher-ranking criminals. That was a defence argument, and it has not been reported that the judge accepted it in full.
Mitigation
Sussex News reports that Colquhoun served with the British Army in Bosnia and Donohoe in Afghanistan. Donohoe’s barrister said he had post-traumatic stress disorder and had struggled with alcohol and employment. Both men had been supported through Operation Nova, a programme for veterans in contact with the criminal justice system. These were representations made on their behalf, not independent findings.
Colquhoun’s barrister, Rebecca Upton, said he missed his own wedding, planned for July, because of his arrest. His defence said he coordinated logistics and did not finance or control the supply. Smith’s barrister said he had fallen into debt. Cronin’s barrister said he thought he was doing an ordinary deckhand shift and did not understand the scale of the shipment. Ruffell’s barrister, Benjamin Brown, said he feared for his safety if he refused, citing drug debts and an earlier machete attack in a case of mistaken identity.
What the NCA and CPS said
Carl Barrass, NCA senior investigating officer, said: “Colquhoun and Donohoe acted for a crime group with international reach and were crucial logistics men moving very large amounts of Class A drugs into the UK.”
He added: “The NCA investigation has not only taken out these five men who are now toxic to fellow criminals, but has removed nearly half a tonne of cocaine whose profits are lost to the OCG. Tackling the Class A drugs threat is a priority for the NCA and we will keep working with partners at home and abroad to keep these vile substances out of our communities where they cause huge damage.”
Shilpa Chauhan of the CPS said: “This was a highly sophisticated conspiracy to smuggle millions of pounds worth of class A drugs into the UK. Importations on this scale cause immense harm to our communities, feeding addiction and funding further organised crime.”
She continued: “The sentences handed down reflect the serious roles each of these defendants played, from those who organised and directed the conspiracy, to those who carried out its logistics on the ground. The CPS worked closely with the National Crime Agency to build a strong case, and we are pleased to have secured guilty pleas from all defendants.”
The NCA said the Border Security Command Maritime’s National Deep Rummage Team helped search the vessel. The Maritime, Aviation and Military Intervention Cell, Sussex Police and Police Scotland were also involved, and searches took place in Scotland, according to Sussex Express.
