Carl Powner, a Stoke-on-Trent man, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for his role in a £40 million cocaine smuggling plot. Powner, 62, was one of 12 criminals who arranged for 500kg of Class A drugs to be dropped at sea and brought ashore near Medmerry Beach, Selsey, West Sussex. On 19 August 2024, National Crime Agency officers were waiting when 16 bales of cocaine, about 85 per cent pure, were recovered from the ocean. The drugs were believed to have been dumped 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. Each bale was wrapped in waterproof bundles fitted with a GPS tracker. Powner was described as a key offender, recruiting drivers for the group, buying equipment and sailing out in the Amma Sigga, a rigid hulled inflatable boat, to recover the drugs. He fled abroad after avoiding arrest. After an NCA investigation, Powner was arrested in Romania in May and extradited to face justice. At Portsmouth Crown Court, gang leaders Daniel Jamieson and Sam Brown were also sentenced. Jamieson received 22 years and Brown was given 16 years and six months. Jamieson, who had posed as a legitimate businessman using a false name, bought a maritime business to obtain the Amma Sigga. Brown admitted conspiring to smuggle cocaine and helped recruit others. Other conspirators were sentenced for their roles, including Harry Kennedy, who was jailed for nine years, and Adil Nolan, who received 11 years and three months. Oil rig worker David Paterson was convicted after he tried to retrieve the drugs from the water on 17 August but returned empty handed when the GPS trackers failed. Lewis Watts, described as Jamieson’s right-hand man, was convicted at trial and jailed for 14 years. Five others received sentences of 20 months in jail, or 20 months suspended. Jules Harriman, an NCA senior investigating officer, said the main players are facing very long periods behind bars. Powner has now been sentenced following his extradition from Romania and returned to the UK to serve his 13-year prison term.