More than 100 years behind bars have been handed to a 12-strong crime group that planned to smuggle a £40m cocaine haul ashore from the sea. Members of the organised crime group arranged for 500kg of Class A drugs to be dropped into the water and later recovered for onward supply across the UK, according to a National Crime Agency investigation. The men were sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on Friday 6 November and the following day. On 19 August 2024, NCA officers were waiting near Selsey, West Sussex, when the group brought 16 bales of cocaine, with a purity of about 85%, onto Medmerry Beach after recovering it from the ocean. The drugs were believed to have been dropped a few days earlier about 40 nautical miles south of the Needles, west of the Isle of Wight, by an accomplice crew aboard a container ship. The cocaine was sealed in waterproof bundles, each fitted with a GPS tracker. OCG bosses Daniel Jamieson, 41, and Sam Brown, 33, received the longest sentences. Jamieson was jailed for 22 years after being convicted of conspiring to smuggle cocaine. Brown was sentenced to 16 years and six months after admitting the same charge. Prosecutors said Jamieson posed as a legitimate businessman and bought a maritime business, using a false name, to get hold of the RHIB called the Amma Sigga to recover the drugs. Brown recruited others, including Harry Kennedy, 38, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle cocaine and was jailed for nine years. Carl Powner, 62, was sentenced to 13 years after being identified as a key figure who recruited drivers and purchased equipment. The court heard Powner fled abroad before being arrested in Romania in May and extradited to face justice. Powner and Adil Nolan, 40, recovered the drugs from the sea. Nolan admitted conspiracy to smuggle cocaine and was jailed for 11 years and three months. Oil rig worker David Paterson, 49, had tried to retrieve the drugs earlier on 17 August, sailing from Haslar Marina into international waters. He failed when the container ship passed him, while the GPS trackers were not sending signals. Paterson was later convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine and jailed for 14 years. Lewis Watts, 37, was convicted at trial of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine and jailed for 14 years. The court heard he ran key parts of the operation, including arranging locations for the landing craft and acting as a go between for conspirators in real life and online. Five further offenders who took part in the landing party were sentenced for assisting an organised crime group. Charlotte Blenman, 34, was given a suspended 20-month sentence for two years. Roy Harmer, 46, Neil Pinchbeck, 43, Thomas Stewart, 40, and Ricky Platt, 49, all received 20 months in prison. NCA senior investigating officer Jules Harriman said the main players in the conspiracy are facing very long jail terms and that the drugs and profits can no longer be used to fund further offending.