Four men have been jailed for attempting to smuggle cannabis worth £300,000 to the island, while a fifth man received a suspended sentence for his role.
Douglas: Four men are facing serious time behind bars after trying to smuggle over £300,000 worth of cannabis to the island. It all went down on a fishing boat, and let me tell you, it was quite the operation.
So, here’s the scoop. Jamie Smith was the mastermind behind this whole plan. He arranged for 15 kilograms of cannabis and some cannabis vapes to be brought over from Whitehaven. He even offered John Skillen, the boat owner, £2,000 to help out.
Instead of sailing the boat himself, Skillen got his captain, Jordan Corkill, to take the wheel. They were supposed to dock at Laxey Bay, but things took a turn when Halligan-Bunce, who was supposed to drive the RIB, realized what was happening and ran it aground.
This little hiccup forced them to change their plans, and they ended up sailing into Battery Pier in Douglas. But guess what? The police were already onto them. Officers from the Serious and Organised Crime Unit were waiting for their arrival.
As the boat pulled in, police saw Skillen grab a holdall from one of the crew members. They swooped in and arrested everyone. Inside that holdall? A whopping 15.5 kilograms of cannabis and nearly 100 cannabis vapes.
In court, Smith was labeled the main player and got five years in jail. Skillen, who had a good life before this, got nearly four years. Corkill and Harrison also received hefty sentences, while Halligan-Bunce got lucky with a suspended sentence for trying to stop the operation.
It’s a wild story, and it just goes to show how quickly things can spiral out of control. These guys thought they could get away with it, but the law was right there waiting.
