Five drug smugglers who were arrested as they moved nearly half a tonne of cocaine into Eastbourne Marina, have been jailed following a National Crime Agency investigation.

The offenders were being watched by NCA officers who had been investigating their organised crime group (OCG) for a number of months.

On 8 June this year, as the men hauled the 425kg of cocaine worth £34m off the New Horizon fishing vessel, NCA officers struck and arrested them all.

Joint organisers of the OCG Alan Colquhoun, 49, and William Donohoe, 38, both expected an £80,000 pay day after the criminals retrieved the drugs – which had a street value of £34m – from the English Channel.

The Class A drugs had been bundled up in waterproof bags, fitted with a GPS tracker, and dropped overboard from another vessel for Colquhoun and Donohoe’s crew to collect, bring to shore and move on to other crime groups across the country.

Colquhoun, of Oberon, Alloa, Clackmannanshire, and Donohoe, of Sycamore Drive, Craigneuk, Airdrie, led the OCG. They both directed the other men involved and liaised with the crime group that had trafficked the drugs from abroad.

The duo conducted reconnaissance along the south coast and plotted where was best to bring the drugs ashore. They hired a van in Scotland and lied that it would be used to move pub stock, before driving it south to move the cocaine.

They also recruited New Horizon skipper and fisherman Ian Smith, 50, to sail out and find the illegal haul.

Along with Colquhoun, Smith, of New College Close, Eastbourne, East Sussex, was joined in the boat by Jacob Cronin, 32, and Daniel Ruffell, 36, of Humber Way, Slough, Berkshire.

Donohoe stayed on dry land while the others were at sea – he was arrested at a petrol station.

Ruffell, who hid in a cupboard on board the boat when NCA armed officers stormed it, acted as the OCG’s lookout. He owed the OCG behind the importation a significant debt and joined the crew to help pay it off.

Cronin, of Elgar Way, Eastbourne, East Sussex, was a fisherman by trade and helped prepare the New Horizon before it set sail.

Today (Fri 23 Oct), at Hove Crown Court, Colquhoun and Donohoe were both sentenced to 16 years in prison, reduced from 24 years for their early guilty pleas.

Smith was sentenced to 12 years reduced from 18 for his guilty plea.

Ruffell, who has 21 convictions for 43 previous offences, was sentenced to eight years reduced from 12 for admitting his guilt. And Cronin was sentenced to six years and eight months, reduced from 10 years for his early guilty plea.

NCA Senior Investigating Officer Carl Barrass 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.

“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 Serious Economic Organised and International Crime Division (SEOCID) at the Crown Prosecution Service, 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. The sentences handed down reflect the serious roles each of these defendants played in this operation, 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. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prosecute those involved in organised drug trafficking."

Expert National Deep Rummage Team officers from Border Security Command Maritime supported the National Crime Agency’s search of the vessel, helping secure vital evidence to build a case against these drug smugglers.

The NCA investigation was also assisted by the Maritime, Aviation and Military Intervention Cell (MAMIC), Sussex Police and Police Scotland where a number of searches were carried out.

23 October 2026