British police have seized a container of oranges imported from South Africa that was used to smuggle 49 kilograms of cocaine into the country.
The UK’s South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) said in a statement that police officers had arrested four men and seized 49kgs of cocaine that was smuggled into the country. The drugs have a street value of around R75 million in the UK.
“More than 230 kilos of cocaine have been seized and four people arrested following an investigation by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, supported by the Metropolitan Police, UK Border Force, HMRC and the NCA,” the unit said.
The investigation began in April when a shipping container delivered to a farm near Bridgwater in Somerset containing animal feed was found to contain 189 kilos of cocaine. The container had travelled from Columbia to London Gateway Port. Last week, seven warrants were carried out at properties in West London, which led to four men being arrested and a further 49 kilos of cocaine being seized from a container of oranges imported from South Africa destined for the Port of Felixstowe.
A suspect from Southall, Ealing, has been charged with conspiring to import Class A drugs and was remanded in custody. Three other suspects from West London, aged 31, 51 and 60, have been released while the investigation continues.
“Our investigation has prevented a huge amount of high purity Class A drugs from ending up on our streets, reducing both the threat to communities and the profits of the organised criminals importing and supplying them,” SWROCU Detective Chief Inspector Paul Fisher said.
“The national ROCU network continues to work tirelessly with police forces and law enforcement partners to protect the security and integrity of the UK border,” he said.
The police unit did not provide details about the South African end of the shipment, such as the originating port or the exporter. South Africa is a transhipment hub for drug trafficking and there have been several recent seizures of drugs that were packaged here, in the US, Israel and Australia.
