FOUR men are to be sentenced next week for their part in the smuggling of cocaine valued at more than £26 million which was seized from a boat in West Somerset.

The men, an Albanian national, a Greek national, and two from the UK, all aged between 30 and 50 years old, pleaded guilty to attempting to import illegal drugs when they earlier appeared in Taunton Crown Court.

The men, who are being held in custody, will be back in the court on Thursday (November 13) for a judge to hand down their sentences.

Meanwhile, two other men alleged to be involved in the drug trafficking gang were arrested on Tuesday (November 4) and charged in connection with the incident.

Packages suspected of containing cocaine found by National Crime Agency officers on a boat off the West Somerset coast. PHOTO: NCA.
Packages suspected of containing cocaine found by National Crime Agency officers on a boat used off the West Somerset coast in July. PHOTO: NCA. ( )

National Crime Agency (NCA) officers arrested Colin Benson, aged 59, and Joshua Rose, aged 38, both from Longton, in Preston, Lancashire.

Benson and Rose appeared in Taunton Magistrates Court on Thursday (November 6) charged with importing class A drugs.

The case was committed to Taunton Crown Court and the pair were remanded in custody until a scheduled hearing on December 5.

All of the charges relate to an at-sea drop-off collection of 322 kilogrammes of cocaine on July 31 this year.

NCA officers swooped on a high-powered rigid hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) in Watchet Harbour which had been used to travel out to sea to collect drugs dropped into the Bristol Channel by a passing ship.

The cocaine was said to have a street value of £26.5 million.