A 61-year-old man has been jailed for 28 years after masterminding a plot to smuggle 1.5 tonnes of cocaine into the UK.
John Alan Brooks was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court after a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to import the drug.
Brooks is originally from Blackpool but had been living in Marbella, Spain, before his arrest last November.
A spokesman for the Serious Organised Crime Agency described him as a "career criminal" and an "international fixer".
He was arrested after a boat called Dances With Waves carrying the drug haul was intercepted by Irish authorities 274km off the south west coast of Ireland.
The boat had collected the cocaine in Venezuelan waters and was heading for Liverpool, the agency said.
PA