It is suspected that the drug was loaded on the high seas after being launched from a merchant ship in the English Channel / The authorities arrested the three crew members and a fourth individual in flagrante delicto in London
Officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) have arrested four men and seized approximately 400 kilos of cocaine after a fishing boat was stopped in the sea off the coast of Kent, in the far Southeast of England (UK). In recent months, cocaine seizures have been repeated on small boats that receive the drug at sea and intend to introduce it to the islands, a practice that years ago was not so recurrent in that area.
Border Force officers intercepted the boat this Sunday morning (November 10) and located the drug shipment. Three men on board, aged 64, 45 and 25, were arrested on suspicion of importing Class A drugs and made available to police for questioning by NCA investigators. A fourth 36-year-old man was arrested in Rainham, East London.
The NCA's director of operations Jules Harriman said: "This quantity of cocaine will represent a significant loss to the organised crime group that attempted to import it into the UK. With our partners at the Border Force and the Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC), we have succeeded in removing this shipment of harmful drugs from the criminal market. Our investigation into this importation is continuing."
Danny Hewitt, Director of the Border Force's National Operational Headquarters, said: "This is an important seizure and demonstrates how Border Force works closely with its National Crime Agency partners to prevent these toxic drugs from reaching our streets in the first place. We continue to work tirelessly to protect our borders and maintain public safety."
It is suspected that the drug was loaded on the high seas after being launched from one of the very numerous deep-draft merchantmen that pass through the English Channel in the direction of the great ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp.
Officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) have arrested four men and seized approximately 400 kilos of cocaine after a fishing boat was stopped in the sea off the coast of Kent, in the far Southeast of England (UK). In recent months, cocaine seizures have been repeated on small boats that receive the drug at sea and intend to introduce it to the islands, a practice that years ago was not so recurrent in that area.
Border Force officers intercepted the boat this Sunday morning (November 10) and located the drug shipment. Three men on board, aged 64, 45 and 25, were arrested on suspicion of importing Class A drugs and made available to police for questioning by NCA investigators. A fourth 36-year-old man was arrested in Rainham, East London.
The NCA's director of operations Jules Harriman said: "This quantity of cocaine will represent a significant loss to the organised crime group that attempted to import it into the UK. With our partners at the Border Force and the Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC), we have succeeded in removing this shipment of harmful drugs from the criminal market. Our investigation into this importation is continuing."
Danny Hewitt, Director of the Border Force's National Operational Headquarters, said: "This is an important seizure and demonstrates how Border Force works closely with its National Crime Agency partners to prevent these toxic drugs from reaching our streets in the first place. We continue to work tirelessly to protect our borders and maintain public safety."
It is suspected that the drug was loaded on the high seas after being launched from one of the very numerous deep-draft merchantmen that pass through the English Channel in the direction of the great ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp.
