An absolute massive cocaine haul – so large it could provide every man, woman and child in the UK with 2 lines each – has been seized at Southampton Port.
As many as 114 million lines of the Class A drug were found among bananas in a container from South America, weighing in at 5.7 tonnes, with an estimated street value of over £450 million. That’s a lot of cocaine!
It dwarfs the previous largest seizure of cocaine in the UK (3.7 tonnes), which was also captured at Southampton Port using the same banana shipment method. Pretty bold move to try that one again, although I imagine a lot more gets through than doesn’t get through.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) and Border Force made the bust on February 8 before the cargo reached the Port of Hamburg in Germany for onward delivery.
A spokesperson for the NCA said: “Inquiries are ongoing with international partners across Europe with a view to identifying the criminal networks involved. Based on UK street-level prices the cocaine would likely have had an estimated value in excess of £450 million.”
NCA director Chris Farrimond added: ‘This record-breaking seizure will represent a huge hit to the international organised crime cartels involved, denying them massive profits. While the destination for the consignment was continental Europe in this case, I have no doubt that a significant proportion would have ended up back here in the UK, being peddled by UK criminal gangs. The NCA is targeting international networks upstream and overseas, disrupting and dismantling them at every step. International law enforcement co-operation is essential to this mission. Working closely with UK partners like Border Force, we are determined to do all we can to protect the UK public.”
I wonder if any of it will be ‘mis-placed’ as the authorities scramble to connect all the dots and find who’s responsible. One thing’s for sure: there’s some cartel bosses out there having an absolute meltdown right now. £450 million down the drain! Not to mention the banana import fees! Well, unless they admitted it was cocaine so they could get around the tariff.
Better luck next time, and if there’s a drought in your area, now you know why.
For the British Airways pilot sacked for snorting coke off a topless woman just before an 11-hour flight, click HERE. Not ideal.
