Cocaine chase on Cornwall beach ends in dramatic arrests and £18.4 million drug haul

Dramatic photos show the moment a drug gang was pursued onto a popular British beach by police. Scott Johnston, 38, and Edwin Yahir Tabora Baca, 33, were chased for 28 miles before being apprehended in front of shocked sunbathers on Gwynver Beach near Penzance, Cornwall.

The images, released by the National Crime Agency, depict the smugglers speeding across the sea, closely followed by another boat.

The criminals are then seen sprinting across the sand before the second boat lands on the beach. Terrified spectators can be heard yelling in a video shared by the agency.

The pair had abandoned their rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), leaving behind a large quantity of cocaine, on 13 September 2024. Johnston and Tabora Baca have now been sentenced to 24 years, and 17 years and seven months respectively.

Police officers had to fan out to ensure the drug gang had no means of escape on Gwynver Beach, which is near Land's End on the South West Coast Path. Following their arrest, Johnston and Tabora Baca were charged and eventually handed their sentences this week, reports The Mirror.

Johnston, from Havant, Hampshire, and Tabora Baca, from Barcelona, were part of a seven-member drug gang. The gang, which organised the collection of the cocaine worth a total of £18.4million, was led by Michael May, 47, and Terry Willis, 44.

Six bundles of cocaine were seized from the RHIB, containing 230kg of the illicit substance. May, hailing from Brentwood, Essex, was handed a 19-year prison sentence while Willis, from Chelmsford, Essex, received a 21-year and eight-month jail term.

Peter Williams, a 43 year old from Havant, was given a 16-year and nine-month prison sentence, and Bobbie Pearce, a 29 year old from Brentwood, was sentenced to 15 years and four months in jail. Williams, the skipper of the boat, was an experienced fisherman who had met King Charles on several occasions, it has been reported.

Both men were directly implicated in the criminal group that had orchestrated the covert operation. Alex Fowlie, aged 35, is set to be sentenced on 5 September after it was discovered that he had provided the boat.

NCA Senior Investigating Officer, Barry Vinall, commented: "These are substantial sentences for six men who didn't care about the misery cocaine causes, they just wanted to make a profit.

"Cocaine is one of the most harmful illegal drugs in the UK, linked to thousands of deaths and fuelling violent crime that wrecks communities and lives.

"Working together, Border Force stopped cocaine worth millions from making it onto UK streets and the National Crime Agency ensured that the group behind its importation faced justice."