logo
Men who jumped overboard from boat packed with €46.5m of cocaine are jailed

Men who jumped overboard from boat packed with €46.5m of cocaine are jailed

Sunday World17-05-2025

Both men attempted to swim to shore after 350 kilos of the drug was discovered
Brce Knowles and Ferhat Gumrukguoglu were jailed at Ipswich Crown Court having previously pleaded guilty to attempting to import a controlled drug
The boat is intercepted by Border Force officers
Two men who jumped from a boat and attempted to swim to shore after 350 kilos of cocaine was discovered on board are facing long prison sentence in the UK.
Bruce Knowles (56) from Dereham, and Ferhat Gumrukguoglu (32) from the Netherlands, spotted on the vessel off the Suffolk coast in June 2024.
Their rigid hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) was intercepted near East Benacre Broads after it failed to stop for a Border Force cutter.
As Knowles restarted the engines in an attempt to flee, Gumrukguoglu jumped into the water and swam towards the beach.
The boat is intercepted by Border Force officers
News in 90 Seconds - May 17th
The Border Force cutter chased after the boat that grounded on a beach after a short pursuit.
However, as officers moved in to arrest Knowles, he also jumped overboard to try to escape.
Gumrukguoglu managed to flee from the beach, but officers from Norfolk and Suffolk Police arrested him later that day in Wrentham, Norfolk.
After the boat as towed to a harbour in Lowestoft NCA officers found the cocaine, worth an estimated £39 million (€46.5) hidden under tarpaulin in the hull.
Investigators believe Knowles and Gumrukguoglu had sailed towards French waters wher they picked up the drugs from a larger ship, with the intention of bringing them back to the UK.
Both men were later charged with importing a controlled drug.
They both pleaded guilty to the offence at Ipswich Crown Court in August 2024 where they were sentenced this week.
Knowles was handed down a 17 year and three month prison sentence and Gumrukguoglu was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Brce Knowles and Ferhat Gumrukguoglu were jailed at Ipswich Crown Court having previously pleaded guilty to attempting to import a controlled drug
Paul Orchard, NCA operations manager described the operation as a 'fast-moving and dynamic interception of two men attempting to smuggle in a huge quantity of Class A drugs'.
"Knowles and Gumrukguoglu continued to try and evade arrest to avoid a significant loss for their crime group. They now face long prison sentences,' Orchard said.
"With thanks to our partners in Border Force and the Joint Maritime Security Centre, a significant amount of class A drugs have been removed from the criminal marketplace where further criminality and exploitation would have followed.
"The NCA is committed to protecting the public from serious and organised crime and stopping criminals from fuelling the UK drugs trade."
Charlie Eastaugh, Border Force Maritime Director added: Border Force officers are committed to disrupting organised crime and keeping Britain safe by preventing deadly drugs from reaching our streets.
"During this pursuit, maritime officers bravely intercepted these criminals and seized 350kg of cocaine, ensuring those who threatened our border security are now facing the full force of the law."

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Sister and brother charged with money laundering over smishing scam
Sister and brother charged with money laundering over smishing scam

Sunday World

timean hour ago

  • Sunday World

Sister and brother charged with money laundering over smishing scam

It was alleged the funds were withdrawn through ATM transactions on O'Connell Street in the city centre A sister and brother have been accused of money laundering over the transfer and withdrawal of €2,500 that had been stolen in a smishing scam. Michela Juravle and Andri Eugen are alleged to have been in possession of the proceeds of criminal conduct. Their cases were adjourned at Blanchardstown District Court for the accused to decide how they intend to plead to the charges. Michela Juravle (28), of Mill Park, Clondalkin, and her brother Andri Eugen (22), of Aylmer Grove, Newcastle, Dublin, are both charged with money laundering. A garda told Judge Áine Clancy the DPP consented to the case being dealt with at district court level, subject to jurisdiction being considered. Outlining the allegations, the garda said the victim of a smishing fraud had €9,000 taken from her account on November 15, 2021, and on the same day, €2,570 of this was transferred to Michela Juvrale's Revolut account. Michela and Andri Eugen Juravle. Photo: Paddy Cummins News in 90 Seconds - Tuesday June 10 It was alleged Michela Juravle gave her brother access to her account and the funds were subsequently withdrawn through ATM transactions on O'Connell Street in the city centre. Judge Clancy accepted jurisdiction, allowing it to remain in the district court instead of sending it forward to the ­circuit court, which has greater sentencing powers on conviction. She adjourned the case to a date in September, for the accused to consider pleas. She ordered disclosure of prosecution evidence to the defence and remanded the accused on continuing bail.

'New Sophie film may not solve murder but it will get people talking again'
'New Sophie film may not solve murder but it will get people talking again'

Irish Daily Mirror

time4 hours ago

  • Irish Daily Mirror

'New Sophie film may not solve murder but it will get people talking again'

The shocking killing of French beauty Sophie Toscan du Plantier 29 years ago is the unsolved murder that won't go away. The whole country wants to know did eccentric English journalist Ian Bailey, who lived in the west Cork area, brutally take her life or is the killer still out there roaming the countryside here or in France, free as a bird. The truth is after all these years, nobody really knows. Ian Bailey died from a sudden heart attack 18 months ago and went to his grave proclaiming his innocence. So far there has never been any hard evidence such as DNA produced to tie him to the murder and the finger of blame against him is largely based on circumstantial evidence contrived with hearsay. Sophie's heartbroken family are convinced Bailey is the man and that the verdict of a dodgy French court in 2019 which found him guilty of the young mother's murder in absentia, proved that he did it. The problem is a star witness in the whole saga, former Schull postmistress Marie Farrell was never called to give evidence at the French show trial. She initially put Bailey in the frame by telling Gardai she saw him washing blood off his boots at Kealfadda Bridge, not far from the murder scene on the night she died. But years later, she retracted her statement and admitted she lied. A large amount of the evidence given in the French proceedings was hearsay and would never have been admitted in an Irish court of law. For whatever reason, Sophie's family will not listen to any suggestions that someone else aside from Ian Bailey, might have killed her. Now they are annoyed with the respected filmmaker Jim Sheridan, whose new movie on the story, Re-Creation opened in New York last Sunday night and will be screened publicly over the coming weeks. Based in a courtroom setting, the film focuses on what would have happened if an Irish jury deliberated on the case and presents all the current facts known about the murder. It has an all-star Irish cast including Colm Meaney and Aidan Gillen. Sheridan also claims there is some new evidence. Sophie's family are extremely critical of the release of the movie at this moment in time when there are still two parallel Garda investigations into the horrendous crime ongoing. The cops are also working with the FBI and new technology to try and identify some old blood samples taken from the murder scene. Sophie's uncle Jean-Pierre Gazeau said the release of the film is "ethically questionable". While the family fully acknowledge Jim Sheridan's reputation as a gifted and accomplished filmmaker, they regret "he has chosen to apply his talent to a project based on questionable evidence". He also said Bailey is still a person of interest in the case to the Gardai. He fumed: "In particular we await the results of new DNA analysis. We believe it is ethically questionable to interfere with the ongoing Irish Garda search for truth by producing a fictional narrative based on assumptions that might be biased - or whose impartiality remains unclear." What none of us know except those who have seen the movie is whether Sheridan's jury finds Bailey not guilty. Sheridan, like myself, has always held the view that there was never any hard evidence to convict Bailey, that the Garda investigation was flawed and that they never seriously looked at any other suspects. Irish detectives also never got to interview Sophie's late husband Daniel face-to-face at the time, and did not receive much cooperation from the French police. All they got was a written, signed statement from Daniel handed over to them by the French. I, like Sheridan, spoke to Ian Bailey many times over the years and he always denied the murder. Truth be told, I have no idea if he did it or not. He was a strange fish in many ways but that did not mean he was a killer. I met a lot of bad bastards in my time who wouldn't bat an eyelid about taking another life and I honestly don't believe Bailey had it in him. Sheridan has defended the film and made it clear he is not trying to upset Sophie's family. He said: "I am not trying to upset them, I am not trying to do anything to them, but if there is a possibility that Ian Bailey didn't do it and he is pursued and hounded for 25 years , you can't cure one crime by committing another." He also told of his issues with the French trial. "Marie Farrell was not invited to France to give her evidence. Was that a selective trial? Was that a limited information trial, a media trial, or a real trial? "It is outrageous that Gardai didn't get to interview the husband and other people in France. It's clinically insane. Ian Bailey is a convincing scapegoat for everyone." The new Sophie film is inspired by the infamous 1957 movie, 12 Angry Men. It won't solve the murder but it certainly will put it right back in the public eye and have everyone talking about it again. The Gardai, meanwhile, are ploughing away with their investigation and only time will tell if a new suspect other than Ian Bailey emerges from the fallout.

Driller killer dentist Colin Howell plans to set up evangelical church in jail
Driller killer dentist Colin Howell plans to set up evangelical church in jail

Sunday World

time11 hours ago

  • Sunday World

Driller killer dentist Colin Howell plans to set up evangelical church in jail

Double-murderer dentist wants to set up a new religious group behind bars The 66-year-old, who murdered his wife and his lover's husband in 1991 then staged the deaths as a double suicide, spent his initial years locked up trying to persuade the authorities to make him the on-site dentist. But as a convicted double killer he lost his licence to practise and his charm offensive failed as he was repeatedly reminded by prison staff that he was no longer eligible for the role. Hazel Stewart Today, 15 years into his 21-year-minimum jail term for the murders of his wife Lesley and police officer Trevor Buchanan, sources say he is working on a plan to become a religious leader inside HMP Maghaberry with 'renewed energy'. One said: 'Around three years ago Howell started trying to convince prison allies and the authorities that he should be permitted to set up a new evangelical church. 'He felt the religious arrangements in Maghaberry were not up to his standards and that he could do a much better job on the inside. ' Howell is always looking for a role, to be someone special, to be admired and he does it all with this sort of humble charm. He's a well behaved prisoner but he's always got a plan in mind. The plan for the new church came to nothing but now the plan appears to be underway again.' Howell is a convicted killer, repeat sex offender and a self-confessed cheat. While having an affair with a Sunday school teacher, Hazel Stewart, he murdered his wife, nurse Lesley Howell, 31, the mother of their four children by gassing her as she lay sleeping on the sofa in their sitting room in Coleraine. It was May 18, 1991, the day their son Matthew turned two. Murder victim Lesley Howell, above, and Trevor Buchanan, below . He suffocated Lesley using a garden hose attached by the rubber seal on the child's baby bottle to the car exhaust and then trailed the hose into the house directing deadly carbon monoxide to Lesley's nose and mouth as she rested following the toddler's birthday party. Once Lesley was dead Howell dumped her body in the boot of the family car, covered her with a sheet and placed a bicycle on top of her before calling Hazel Stewart to say: 'I've finished with Lesley.' He grabbed photos of his wife and a CD player to place beside his dead wife in the car in a bid to make police think she had killed herself with Trevor Buchanan. Colin Howell and Hazel Stewart murdered Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan before trying to make it look like a double suicide News in 90 Seconds - 09 June 2025 With Hazel in the boot, Howell drove to the home of his lover Hazel Stewart – then called Hazel Buchanan – and as she stood in the hallway of the family home, Howell subjected her husband and dad-of-two, RUC constable Trevor Buchanan, 32, to the same brutal treatment. Hazel had drugged her husband and prepared a set of clothes for Howell to dress him in after he was dead, then she took the family car out of the garage to make room for Howell's car. As Howell drove up to Hazel's house, she opened the garage door and let the killer in. Inside, Howell got down to his deadly work, having already measured enough hose pipe to drag through the Buchanan home to the bedroom. After overwhelming Trevor who was in the bed, Howell suffocated the young police officer with carbon monoxide from his running car engine. He stuffed Trevor's body into the boot beside Hazel, covered them both with the sheet and put the bike on top. The floor plans drawn by Colin Howell for police Then he drove the victims to a garage that belonged to his dead wife's late father and rearranged their bodies in a bid to make the scene look like a double suicide. He set the photos beside Lesley and placed earphones on Lesley and set a CD to play religious music. And he crammed Trevor into the front seat, forgetting to pull the seat forward to allow enough space for the 6ft-plus police officer. Howell cycled back to his house and tidied as Hazel did the same in her home, burning the hose pipe in the hearth and opening the windows to air the house, before they separately alerted friends to say Lesley and Trevor were missing. The victims were found together by police after a series of searches and following a botched investigation, their deaths were recorded as suicides. It was wrongly assumed by many that Lesley and Trevor had an affair. Howell and Hazel continued their relationship for a while, but later split up and found other spouses, leaving their murderous past behind. But in 2009, 17 years, eight months and 15 days after the murders, Howell came under pressure from his then wife to reveal all and confessed to fellows in a Coleraine church. Two days later on January 28, 2009 he gave a full and detailed interview to police in Coleraine, even sketching out the floor plans of the homes he had killed in. He told the police: 'I know I lived in a world, of believing I could do anything, like a fantasy world where I could do anything and so I probably believed I could get away with it.' In rough sketches for the police, he drew: • The floor plans of both homes; • The direction he took the hose from the car exhaust to the victims, Lesley in the sitting room and Trevor in the bedroom; • Fireplace used by Hazel to burn the hose after Howell left the house. The following year, in 2010, he pleaded guilty in court to the murders and was handed a 21-year sentence before turning evidence on Stewart. At his trial, he told the jury: 'I may have been the lead partner in the waltz but Hazel was dancing in co-operation.' Three days after Howell's police statements, Hazel Stewart was arrested and questioned by PSNI Detective Sergeant Ferris. A recording of the interview revealed the DS said: 'You were part of a plan Hazel, which was to murder two people. 'The plan was carried out and it was near the perfect murder. You got close, very close but it doesn't always work out like that and it has came to a head this week. 'It was vicious in relation to what you did, both of you. You showed no regard for your partners, you showed no regard for their families and you certainly showed no regard for your own children. 'And you made that decision that you could live with your two children who were only nine and 10 years of age and you agreed to a plan that resulted in the father of your two children being murdered in the very house where they lay sleeping. Can it get any more cold, colder than that Hazel?' She replied: 'No, no.' DS Ferris continued: 'Colin Howell could not have done this on his own and you could not have done it on your own Hazel, this had to be a joint enterprise between the two of you, the two of you had to work together to make this plan come to fruition, do you accept that?' She replied: 'Yes.' Hazel Stewart was jailed for a minimum of 18 years in 2011 and remains in prison. Last month, on May 25, 2025, she launched her third appeal against her conviction on the basis of 'coercive control' of her co-conspirator, Colin Howell. In addition to the double murders, Howell, was also later convicted of the indecent assault of five women. Each had been drugged and abused while they were patients at his dental surgery. He said in police interviews that he had drugged his lover for sex sessions but insisted it had been consensual. Today, 15 years into his 21-year-minimum jail term for the double murder of Lesley and Trevor, he remains in prison and has floated the idea again of setting up an evangelical church inside HMP Maghaberry, outside Lisburn, Co Antrim. Prison sources, who describe Howell as an 'exemplary prisoner', believe he is bored with the religious offerings available inside the jail and says he claims he 'is desperate to help others'. One said: 'Howell has deeply- held religious views, he's always praying for people and counselling them about God and he's free to do that as long as they're happy to tolerate it. But he's still going on about setting up services that are more evangelical, more happy clappy with him at the head of it no doubt. 'He has spoken to a number of people about the possibility of a new church and he'd be happy to lead it and act as pastor. He still has people on the outside who support him and pray for him and he seems to think he'd make a great spiritual leader inside jail because he says he has atoned for his sins.' But leading criminologist, Professor David Wilson believes Howell's interest to set up a new church is less about boredom or a desire to help others than to bolster his own ego. Describing him as a narcissist, Prof Wilson, an authority on understanding the criminal mind, told the Sunday World : 'Colin Howell's element of his personality is narcissism, which means he need to be the centre of attention, the need to have a sense of self which is validated not by himself, by other people. 'So how does he get that sense of self validated within an institution such as Maghaberry Prison? Well Maghaberry like all prisons, has its own subcultures with people at the top, people at the bottom, and people somewhere in the middle. And of course especially if you're serving a sentence of the length that he's serving, he will want to get as far to the top as he possibly can go. 'Having failed to use his profession as a dentist, he has to find some other way to narcissistically fulfil the need for his identity to be validated, and the way that he can do that is to say he's the pastor of a new religion or church. 'Of course, these things involve no effort. It's like the kids who turn up on talent shows having never actually sung but they think they're the next pop sensation. You actually have to work at these things. You have to train as a priest, as a chaplain, as a lay preacher. 'A charismatic religion that he wants to set up would be the whole basis in which he could move from zero to 100 miles an hour. 'That's where you see the narcissism in operation but of course, that narcissism is an elevated sense of self.' And Prof Wilson says if Howell was given the authority of flexing his evangelical muscles, he would be likely to abuse the authority. He explained: 'I would expect it to be consistent in terms of how he behaved in the community and how he behaves whilst behind bars. Now remember, prisoners pose problems in maximum on security prisons either because they're likely to be violent, or because they're likely to be psychologically manipulative and prison officers are actually very good at managing those threats, that either the violent prisoner will pose or the threats posed by somebody who's psychologically manipulative. 'You don't want to give a psychologically manipulate prisoner, a narcissistic prisoner a means by which he could use a position of authority over other people, because that's not going to have a good conclusion. 'There is an importationist element to prisons. Prisoners import who they were in the community into the jail. So that's really what's happening. 'He was charismatic in the community and that charisma doesn't disappear simply because he's behind bars, it merely finds a different outlet behind bars, but effectively, he's importing his personality and the culture in which he would get his personality to succeed.' A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Prison Service said they do not comment on individual prisoners, and added: 'Pastoral care, religious or otherwise, within the prison setting is the primary responsibility of the Prison Chaplaincy Team. 'Chaplaincy provision is delivered by the five main Christian Churches; Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Church of Ireland, Methodist and Free Presbyterian as well as the Muslim Faith. Also, a number of voluntary organisations offer pastoral support within prisons such as Quakers, Prison Fellowship and Saint Vincent de Paul.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store