An eight-man British/Dutch drug-smuggling gang which attempted to bring 90kg of cocaine into Britain via Wales, having transported it across the Atlantic from off the coast of Guyana in a Hunter 45 yacht, have today been sentenced.

The gang’s two leaders, Lee Morgan, 41, from Burnley, and Johan Ranft, 40, from Holland, were each jailed for 16 years at Preston Crown Court. The remaining six members received sentences ranging up to 15 years in jail.

Officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) boarded the Hunter 45, Samba Pa Ti, in May of last year, when it was becalmed and started taking on water 25NM off the Pembrokeshire coast.