Huge cocaine bust in Southampton

By Marc Allen, Maritime Direct, Editor UK.

A haul of cocaine worth £76m has been made by the UK Border Force at the Port of Southampton, reports Sky News. The 946kg of cocaine was found in a consignment of bananas on a commercial vessel docked at the port on Friday.

Individually-wrapped parcels of the drug were found placed in boxes of bananas by Border Force officers after they identified anomalies within the ship’s containers during a routine inspection.

Home Secretary, Priti Patel, said: “This was drug smuggling on an industrial scale so I’m delighted that Border Force officers have prevented such a large quantity of dangerous goods 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.”