Five men sentenced for attempted £34m Eastbourne cocaine smuggle

Five men have been sentenced after admitting they tried to smuggle nearly half a tonne of cocaine into an East Sussex harbour using a fishing boat. The National Crime Agency said the drugs had a street value of £34 million and were placed in the English Channel with a GPS tracker so the defendants could retrieve them before taking the haul to Eastbourne’s Sovereign Harbour. The case was heard at Hove Trial Centre on Friday. Alan John Colquhoun, 49, and William Donohoe, 38, received 16-year prison terms for leading roles, according to the judge. Ian Smith, 49, was given 12 years; Daniel Ruffell, 35, eight years; and Jacob Cronin, 31, six years and eight months.