Two men who hid 350 kilos of cocaine in the hull of a boat and tried to escape arrest by swimming away have been convicted after a National Crime Agency investigation.
Bruce Knowles (right), 55, from Dereham, and Ferhat Gumrukguoglu (below), 31, from the Netherlands, were arrested after the rigid hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) they were travelling on was intercepted near East Benacre Broads in Suffolk.
The two men were seen on board as a Border Force cutter moved in and initially failed to stop during the incident on 24 June.
Gumrukguoglu jumped from the vessel and swam towards the beach as Knowles restarted the engines and attempted to flee.
Following a short pursuit, the boat was grounded on the beach and officers moved in to arrest Knowles, after he also jumped overboard in a bid to escape.
Officers from Norfolk and Suffolk Police pursued Gumrukguoglu after he fled from the beach, arresting him later that day in Wrentham, Norfolk.
The boat was towed to a harbour in Lowestoft where it was searched by NCA officers, who found the haul of drugs, worth an estimated £39 million, hidden under tarpaulin.
Investigators believe Knowles and Gumrukguoglu travelled towards French waters to pick up the drugs from a larger ship, before bringing them back to the UK.
Both men were interviewed and gave no comment, but were subsequently charged with importing a controlled drug. They pleaded guilty to the offence at Ipswich Crown Court today (20 August).
NCA Branch Commander Lydia Bloomfield said: “Knowles and Gumrukguoglu knew they were going to lose a huge quantity of drugs when they were intercepted at sea by our Border Force colleagues.
“Both were working for a wider organised crime group, who will now feel the effects of a loss of this amount.
“Thanks to the work of our Border Force and Joint Maritime Security Centre partners, a very significant amount of class A drugs have been removed from the criminal marketplace where they would have fuelled further criminality and exploitation.
“The NCA will continue to work with partners to protect the public from serious and organised crime.”
Border Force Deputy Director Sally Hawkyard said: “Our Border Force Officers played a pivotal role in detecting and seizing millions of pounds worth of cocaine, which ensured that these two men were brought to justice.
“We remain committed to stopping illegal drugs from entering the country, where they ruin lives and fuel organised criminal gangs.
“Border Force will continue to work tirelessly to keep the public safe and our borders secure.”
20 August 2024
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