LONDON: A shipment of cocaine worth almost half a million pounds has been seized from a yacht moored at Brighton Marina.
Three kilograms of the drugs, with a likely potential value of around £480,000, were found aboard the Tacabanda II, which had sailed to the UK from the Caribbean.
Officers from Border Force first attended the marina, and began searching the yacht, and the next day they recovered around three kilos of cocaine.
Investigators from the National Crime Agency’s Border Policing Command were called in and the two crewmen, a 62-year-old St Lucian national and a 29-year-old man from Grenada, were arrested on suspicion of the importation of controlled drugs.
Specialist Border Force search teams continued their search of the vessel but no further drugs were recovered.
The men were interviewed by NCA investigators and bailed until November, pending further enquiries.
Steve McIntyre, senior investigator for the National Crime Agency, said: “Forensic analysis of the drugs seized has yet to be carried out, but the likelihood is it is cocaine of a very high purity.
“Our investigations are continuing, and we’d appeal to anyone who saw any kind of suspicious activity at the marina to come forward and let us know.
“Working with our Border Force colleagues we are determined to disrupt the organised crime networks involved in smuggling class A drugs into the UK.”
Sue Young, Director of Border Force South, added: “Border Force officers play a key role in protecting the UK from illegal drugs and this seizure has prevented a significant quantity from reaching the streets.
“Working with law enforcement colleagues like the NCA we are determined to do all we can to prevent drug trafficking and put those responsible behind bars.”
