Two brothers who pretended to be sea fishing were caught trying to smuggle £26.5m of cocaine into Britain
Craig and Raymond Nuttall were part of a gang that went out in a dinghy to collect the drugs dropped off by a cargo ship.
The pair also went under the guise of trying to sell a Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boat to import the drugs.
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The brothers worked with fellow defendants Anestis Tsepa and Melios Delvina to carry out the smuggling plot.
Craig Nuttall, 51, and Raymond Nuttall, 47, both from Preston, arrived at Watchet Marina in Somerset on 23 July.
The pair said they were using a RHIB named Guzzla and told the marina manager that they planned to be in the area for a few days to fish.
On the evening of 30 July, they were joined by Greek national Tsepa, 24, from Thessalonika, and 38-year-old Albanian national Delvina.
Raymond Nuttall was seen to drive a van down the quayside before removing two jerry cans and a hose from the rear.
Craig Nuttall, Tsepa and Delvina put on lifejackets and heading out to sea at 8:46pm.
A National Crime Agency spokesperson said: “Audio messages later discovered on Tsepa’s device showed that they took the boat out to sea.
“And were organising an at sea drop off where a larger vessel, otherwise known as a mother ship, is believed to have dropped illegal drugs into the sea and was to be collected by a smaller boat.
“In the background of the messages, the Guzzla’s engine can be heard as they travel, discussing how long it will take their smaller, daughter vessel to arrive.
“Clarifying which mother vessel they should follow and that they were now ready, waiting for that larger vessel to give a signal.”
They got back over four hours later at 1am on 31 July and began to try to connect the boat to a trailer that Raymond Nuttall had driven down the slipway.
However, NCA officers then stepped in and arrested the four men on suspicion of importation of Class A drugs, as reported on Need To Know.
The Guzzla was searched and found to contain a large number of bale-sized packages that had been stored along the floor and between the seats.
There were 14 packages in total, containing a further 322 smaller packages weighing a kilo each.
The substance inside was tested and found to be cocaine with an 89% purity.
The drugs would be worth £26.5 million at street level.
A firearm was also discovered in the boat.
The Nuttalls and Tsepa provided no comment responses in interview.
Delvina gave a prepared statement in which he said he was unemployed and took work to unload items from a boat into a van with no knowledge of the drugs inside.
The Nuttalls pleaded guilty to importation of cocaine at Taunton crown court on 29 August.
Tsepa and Delvina admitted the same charges on 5 September.
Tsepa also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Raymond Nuttall, Craig Nuttall were sentenced to 11-years-and-three-months and 11-years-and-two-months respectively.
Tsepa was given a one-year-and-four-month jail term at the same court yesterday (13 Nov).
Delvina is due to be sentenced on 11 December.
NCA Regional Head of Investigations Gavin Webb said: said: “These men were working as part of an organised crime group, using the cover of darkness to collect a significant amount of cocaine that would have ended up on the streets of the UK.
“They were fuelled by greed – if their attempt had been successful it would have netted them millions of pounds in profit. The presence of a firearm on the boat shows the levels they were willing to go to with their offending.
“The NCA is confronting and dealing with at-sea drugs drop-offs as a priority to ensure illegal drugs do not make it to UK shores.
“Dedicated Officers from the NCA were aided by, and are grateful for, the vital support of, our partners in Border Force, the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, Avon and Somerset Police and Devon and Cornwall Police.
“These criminals are now behind bars.”
