Nearly a tonne of cocaine has been seized by Border Force officers after it was found in a shipment of bananas at Southampton.
The cocaine, which weighed a total of 145 stone, was suspected to have been placed in cargo in Colombia and was bound for Antwerp in Belgium.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said Border Force officers had thwarted “drug smuggling on an industrial scale” and prevented a large quantity of “dangerous drugs” from reaching our streets.
“Drugs devastate communities, line the pockets of serious criminals, and are a serious driver of the violence which ruin young lives right across the country,” said Ms Patel.
“We are sending a strong signal to criminals in the UK and abroad seeking to smuggle drugs into or through the UK – your efforts will fail and we will use every part of our law enforcement powers to stop drugs from coming into the UK.”
Border Force officers discovered the class A drugs after identifying “anomalies” with the cargo in the container during a routine inspection.
Tim Kingsberry, regional director for Border Force South, added: “This significant seizure has removed a large amount of dangerous drugs from the streets, which not only reduces the significant harm they cause to communities but also makes a huge dent in the profits of smugglers.”
