A group of men who admitted to smuggling almost half a tonne of cocaine into an East Sussex harbour on a fishing boat have been sent to prison.

The drugs had been deposited in the English Channel and fitted with a GPS tracker so the defendants would know where in the sea they could be retrieved before taking them to Eastbourne's Sovereign Harbour, the court heard.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said it had a street value of £34m.

All five defendants admitted conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a Class A drug.

Alan John Colquhoun, 49, from Clackmannanshire, Scotland, William Donohoe, 38, from Airdrie, Scotland, Ian Smith, 49, and Jacob Cronin, 31, both from Eastbourne, and Daniel Ruffell, 35, from Slough appeared at Hove Trial Centre on Friday.

Colquhoun and Donohoe were each sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Judge Jeremy Gold KC said they "both had a leading role in the enterprise" and their military backgrounds made them "well-equipped" to organise the operation.

Smith was sentenced to 12 years in jail, Ruffell was handed an eight year sentence and Cronin was jailed for six years and eight months.

Gold said the men were each entitled to a one third reduction in their sentences after pleading guilty at the first available opportunity.

Hugh French, prosecuting, told the hearing Colqhoun and Donohoe were "trusted logistics men" working for an organised crime group with international reach.

The defendants made contact with Smith, a self-employed fisherman and skipper of the New Horizon fishing boat, in May, before travelling from Scotland to East Sussex in a hired van.

Once the boat carrying the consignment of cocaine had been brought to Sovereign Harbour, the men began unloading the consignment.

It was then they were arrested by NCA officers.

Body worn video shows the officers confronting Ruffell who was found on board the boat hiding in a cupboard.

The court heard Colqhoun and Donohoe expected a payment of £80k for their role in a successful operation, although it is not known how or if the money would have been shared with other members.

It was not suggested Colqhoun nor Donohoe were the ultimate owners of the drugs or at the apex of the organised crime group.

In mitigation, the court heard Colqhoun and Donohoe had struggled with their mental health following careers in the armed forces serving overseas, and had difficulty finding employment or holding down jobs.

Smith got involved "out of sheer desperation" because as a self-employed fisherman, he had a tax debt owed to the inland revenue, his defence counsel told the court.

He will regret the decision for rest of his life, his barrister added.

Ruffell also had a significant debt due to lengthy and sustained addition to crack cocaine, the hearing was told.

Carl Barrass, senior investigating officer at the NCA, said Eastbourne's position on the coast appealed to the organised crime group who used encrypted phone apps to communicate.

"If you were to look across the south east coast and the range of ports and harbours that would have been available to any organised crime group looking to smuggle Class A drugs, Eastbourne harbour would have been an attractive option given its locality and the busyness of the harbour," he said.

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