Largest ever UK cocaine haul hidden in bananas
The UK Border Force made the largest ever seizure of Class A drugs in the UK, it said at the weekend.
Cocaine worth £450 million (€527 million) and weighing 5.7 tonnes was seized from a container of bananas at the Port of Southampton on the south coast.
Large though it is for the UK, this is dwarfed by the recent record 116 tonnes seized in Belgium in January, its largest haul ever.
The National Crime Agency said the drugs had been found in a container from South America that was heading for Hamburg, although some of it would have ended up on the UK’s streets as well.
This is two tonnes more than the previous record, which was also seized at Southampton and less than two years ago.
Working with the ‘Near Europe Task Force’, the NCA said it had identified the load and notified the Border Force, who searched the banana cargo on |February 8.
“Enquiries are ongoing with international partners across Europe with a view to identifying the criminal networks involved,” it said, adding that it believed criminal gangs made £4 billion (€4.7 billion) a year from illegal drugs in the UK alone and that this seizure would massively lower profits.
“Cocaine trafficking is closely linked to serious violence throughout the supply chain, including firearms and knife crime in the UK,” it said. “The cocaine trade has seen an exponential rise in associated violence in the past few years.”
“This seizure sends a clear message to criminals that they will be caught,” said MP Tom Pursglove. “Our Border Force officers continue to work relentlessly to protect our borders and ensure the safety and security of the public.”
