Two men who hid 770 pounds of cocaine in the hull of a boat and tried to escape arrest by swimming away have been convicted after an investigation by the U.K.’s National Crime Agency.
Bruce Knowles, 55, of Dereham, and Ferhat Gumrukguoglu, 31, of the Netherlands, were arrested in June after the rigid-hulled inflatable boat they were on was intercepted in Suffolk.
A video released by the Crime Agency shows Gumrukguoglu jumping from the vessel and swimming toward the beach as Knowles restarted the engines and attempted to flee.
After a brief pursuit, the boat ran aground on the beach, and officers arrested Knowles after he also jumped overboard in a bid to escape.
The boat was towed to a harbor in Lowestoft, where NCA officers found the drugs, valued at an estimated £39 million, or $49 million, hidden under a tarpaulin.
Both men were charged with importing a controlled drug and pleaded guilty to the offense at Ipswich Crown Court.
