The Home Office has just revealed that some 65kg of cocaine were seized in a shipment of bananas and pineapples from Colombia.
Close cooperation between UK Border Force officers and their counterparts in the Netherlands and France led to the seizure in Portsmouth and the Netherlands.
A spokesman for the Home Office said: “Although the first haul of drugs were found on 30 April, news of the discovery can only now be released following the successful conclusion of joint working with Dutch law enforcement.”
Officers from the National Deep Rummage Team at Border Force discovered the packages of cocaine on container vessel Hope Bay when it was docked at Portsmouth after arriving from Santa Marta, Colombia, on 30 April. The haul was concealed in one of the holds below deck, as stevedores off-loaded containers of bananas and pineapples bound for the UK market.
The drugs weighed approximately 33kg and are estimated to have had a potential street value of approximately £3.3 million.
Dutch Customs were alerted and carried out a search when the vessel arrived in Flushing, which resulted in the detection of 32kg more cocaine.
Enquiries are ongoing by Border Force as well as Dutch and French authorities.
Andy Lumb, assistant director at Border Force, said: “The trade in illegal drugs and other banned substances is a world-wide problem and one that requires close partnership between law enforcement agencies across borders…our officers are on constant alert… to keep drugs, other smuggled goods and illegal persons out of the UK. We are determined to prevent this terrible trade.”
Border Force National Deep Rummage Teams cover commercial shipping arrivals into all UK ports and are trained to search all areas of a vessel for contraband.
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