Huge drugs stash found in fruit

Cocaine worth around £140 million in street value has been found under pallets of bananas on a ship travelling from South America.

National Crime Agency and Border Force officers found 850kg of the drug after a three-day search, and said it could be the biggest cocaine seizure in Britain for more than two years.

The drugs were discovered on the MV Crown Jade, a Panamanian registered vessel that had travelled from Colombia and docked in Portsmouth on 26 October.

Officers boarded the vessel that evening, with the ship then allowed to proceed, without the drugs, to Belgium.

Investigations into the eventual destination for the cocaine shipment are ongoing in the UK and abroad.

Officers believe the seizure at Portsmouth is the biggest since 1.2 tonnes of cocaine was discovered on a luxury yacht in Southampton in May 2011.

Deputy director of the NCA’s Border Policing Command Tom Dowdall said the find was a “major blow” to the criminal groups involved.

He said: “We believe the cocaine found on board this ship is of a very high purity – probably more than 80 per cent.

“It would have been cut several times before being sold, so the amount found here could have ended up as several tonnes at street level.

Immigration minister Mark Harper said: “I congratulate the Border Force and NCA officers involved in stopping such a huge amount of drugs entering the UK and ending up on our streets.

“This joint operation is an example of the intelligence-led, co-ordinated action being taken to protect our border and target the organised criminals behind drug and people trafficking.”