National Crime Agency ( NCA), UK has seized 5.7 tonnes of cocaine hidden in the banana crates, marking it the UK’s biggest ever A-Class drug bust. The cost of the seized drugs is estimated to be £450 million i.e. more than Rs 47 billion. NCA says that the blocks of this illegal drug were being taken to the Port of Hamburg in Germany from where it was to go for further delivery before they were caught on February 8. It was caught at Southampton port. An agency spokesperson said that they were working with its European partners to identify the criminal network behind this smuggling.
As per NCA data, criminal gangs are believed to be making £4 billion (Rs 4203 crore) a year in Britain alone. Many of these types of drug trafficking are linked to serious violence, which has increased significantly in recent years. NCA director Chris Farrimond said that this huge seizure will cause a huge loss to the smugglers involved, “marking a huge hit to the cartels involved.” Further talking about the seizure, he said that the destination for the consignment was continental Europe. However, ‘I do not doubt that a significant proportion would have ended up back here in the UK, being peddled by UK criminal gangs,’ he added as quoted in Daily Mail
The NCA has become a serious force against the smuggling of drugs in the UK. As per the agency’s director, they are targeting international networks upstream and overseas. They are aiming to ‘disrupt and dismantle’ them at every step and operation. The cooperation of International law enforcement in such cases is a must. Tom Pursglove, Minister for Legal Migration and the Border said that this historic seizure would act as a direct message to the drug cartels that they would be caught.
Earlier, the biggest drug-related seizure in Britain was of about 3.7 tonnes of cocaine, which was caught in Southampton itself in 2022. Before that, 3.2 tonnes of cocaine was caught in an MV Hamal boat in Scotland in 2015. Interestingly, the value of cocaine seized in 2015 was 5.12 crore pounds (Rs 538 crore) because, at that time, the price of cocaine was very high in Scotland.
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