Peter Williams, a 44-year-old fisher, received a 16 years and nine months sentence for captaining a RHIB that collected packages of cocaine dropped off Cornwall from a mother ship. The operation aimed to smuggle 18m of cocaine into the UK. A Border Force cutter spotted the RHIB, prompting a 28-mile chase that ended when Williams ran the boat aground on Gwynver beach; Williams and other gang members were arrested. The gang included three men from Essex and a Colombian believed to be cartel security. Williams had a long fishing career, developed a cocaine addiction after trauma, accrued business and drug debts, and was recruited by dealers while financially struggling.
A respected fisher who met King Charles and government representatives to discuss the future of the industry has been jailed for taking part in a sophisticated plot to smuggle 18m of cocaine into the UK. Peter Williams, 44, was sentenced to 16 years and nine months for captaining a boat that went out to pick up packages of cocaine dropped into the sea off Cornwall by a mother ship transporting the drugs from South America.
The fisher led Border Force officers on a 28-mile chase, which ended on Gwynver beach near Land's End when Williams ran the RHIB aground. He and other members of the gang, which included three Essex men believed to have been aiming to sell the drugs in the south-east of England, and a Colombian man thought to have been acting as security for the South American drug cartel, were caught.
In mitigation, Williams' barrister, Harry Laidlaw, said he had been a fisher for about 15 years, having previously worked with children in the care sector. The barrister said his problems began almost 20 years ago when his father, also a fisher, died in his presence on a boat. His response to that was to turn to drugs, cocaine in particular, said Laidlaw. He sorted out his addiction to a degree and managed to get his life back on track.
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