THREE men have been jailed for their roles in a commercial cocaine importation following a major investigation linking authorities in Jersey and Bristol.

Adil Alime (30), Darren Fouracres (47) and Anthony Clark (46) received a combined sentence of 17 years and nine months in the Royal Court. Alime was jailed for nine years and six months, Fouracres for seven years and Clark for 15 months.

The case stemmed from a June 2022 importation in which Bristol-based courier Elijah Silbourne, then aged 20, travelled to Jersey by ferry from Poole. 

Jersey Customs and Immigration Service officers searched his vehicle and discovered a kilo of cocaine concealed in the boot. The haul was valued at up to £220,000 in street form. However. The court heard that it could have been worth up to £880,000 if it had been cut with other substances to allow it to be sold for more money.

Silbourne was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in October 2022.

During that investigation, Silbourne gave Customs officers access to his phone – it was thanks to this, and close collaboration with police in the UK, that officers were able to unravel the web of connections benefiting from drugs being sent to Jersey.

Named ‘Operation Crimson’, that subsequent investigation involved extensive phone and financial analysis by the Jersey Customs officers and Avon and Somerset Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Team. 

The Royal Court heard that several burner phones were found linked to Alime and Clark, and that messaging between Alime and Silbourne included discussions about the expected profits and how to evade detection. 

In one message sent as Silbourne was stopped at Jersey’s harbour, Alime wrote: “What, have they got dogs? Please call me ASAP.”

Fouracres and Clark travelled to Jersey in August 2022 and were stopped by Customs officers on arrival. The pair claimed that they were coming to the Island to do electrical work.

Phone numbers they provided matched two connected to Silbourne. 

Alime was stopped separately the following month, telling officers he was visiting Clark. 

Further investigation revealed that Clark had deposited more than £28,000 in unexplained cash during the second half of 2022, transferring over £29,000 to Fouracres, who then sent the funds on to Alime.

Avon and Somerset Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Team arrested all three men in Bristol in April 2025 following the cross-border operation and were later escorted back to Jersey to be charged.

In court yesterday, Crown Advocate Luke Sette emphasised that the drugs were of high quality, at 75%, and that they could have been cut to be sold for more money.

Advocate Paul Nicholls, representing Alime, said his client was not “a sophisticated career criminal”.

“This criminality was far from a model of sophistication. It was the epitome of naivety and stupidity,” he said. “It was doomed to fail.”

Advocate Allana Binnie, defending Clarke, said he was the least involved in the drugs trafficking and was essentially a conduit for money-laundering.

He had suffered from cancer in recent years and had undergone surgery to remove a tumour from his neck and tongue, she said, and hadn’t been able to receive treatments in prison in Jersey. He had also not been able to get a special diet to help issues with swallowing.

This meant that his treatment team hadn’t seen him since April.

Advocate Sarah Dale, representing Fouracres, said her client was “a money man” who hadn’t asked questions about what his co-defendants were up to.

“If he had taken the time to as, there is no way he would have become involved in something like this,” she said.

Alime was sentenced to nine years and six months’ imprisonment for importing cocaine and being in control of criminal property.

Clark was sentenced to 15 months on two counts of being in control of criminal property, which Commissioner Alan Binnington said was “an act of mercy”.

Fouracres was jailed for seven years for the importation of drugs, two counts of being in control of criminal property, and possession of drugs.

JCIS Senior Manager Luke Goddard said the operation involved “real complexities” to go through “months and months of data”, but that it demonstrated “exemplary” collaboration. He said that agencies would continue to disrupt syndicates moving drugs and cash across Jersey’s borders.

DS Sarah Jefferies, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: “Illegal drugs cause untold misery to our communities, particularly the most vulnerable members of society. We’re committed to tackling their supply and work closely with our partners locally – and further afield – to do so.

“I’d like to thank JCIS for their work in ensuring this case was brought before the court and am pleased to see the sentences handed down today.”

Commissioner Alan Binnington was presiding with Lieutenant-Bailiff Jane Ronge, and Jurats Elizabeth Dulake, Andrew Cornish, Michael Berry and Donald Gardener sitting.