Four Men Jailed 90 Years for £100m Cocaine Smuggling off Cornwall

Four men were sentenced to a combined total of 90 years in prison for attempting to smuggle over a ton of high-purity cocaine valued at up to £100 million aboard a fishing boat, the Lily Lola, off the coast of Cornwall. The National Crime Agency and Border Force intercepted the vessel in September 2024, finding 1,076kg of cocaine hidden in blocks and bales. Jon Williams, the boat's captain, received 26 years; Patrick Godfrey was sentenced to 25 years; Michael Kelly received 21 years; and Jake Marchant was sentenced to 18 years. Williams and Godfrey were convicted after trial, while Kelly and Marchant pleaded guilty. Investigators uncovered that the operation was part of a carefully planned smuggling attempt involving instructions from a third party in South America, with a tracker found in the drug haul linked to a user there. Authorities emphasized the significant harm such drugs would have caused to communities and highlighted their ongoing efforts to disrupt organized crime and prevent large-scale drug trafficking into the UK and Europe.