U.K. police discover 1MT of cocaine hidden in consignment of South American fruit

More News Top Stories
U.K. police discover 1MT of cocaine hidden in consignment of South American fruit

British police said on Wednesday they had discovered a tonne of cocaine hidden in a consignment of fruit which was being smuggled into the country from South America, Reuters reported.

Detectives said the “huge” haul, which they valued at 100 million pounds ($128 million), was found at the port of Dover in southeast England in pallets unloaded from a boat.

Two men, aged 40 and 64, were arrested on suspicion of importing class A drugs. The seizure was part of an operation launched after police infiltrated an encrypted communications service used by criminals.

“This operation has prevented a large amount of cocaine from making it on to our streets, we estimate that once adulterated and sold it could have had a street value of up to £100 million,” said Nikki Holland, the National Crime Agency’s Director of Investigations.

Subscribe to our newsletter