Cocaine worth £20m
seized from yacht off edinburgh coast
This article is recent
Police
arrest six after vessel intercepted near Fishguard and 250kg of drugs found
inside
@stevenmorris18
Sun 12 Apr 2020 8.58 BSTLast modified on Mon 13 Apr
2020 20.45 BST
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National Crime Agency officers
seize the drugs from the yacht at Peel port in Glascow. Photograph: National
Crime Agency/PA
Cocaine with a street
value of £16m has been seized and six people arrested after a sailing yacht was
intercepted off the coast of Wales.
National Crime Agency
(NCA) officers had been tracking the vessel,
the Sy Atrevido, which was believed to be heading from South America to the UK.
The
Border Force cutter HMC
Protector intercepted the yacht
half a mile off the Welsh coast on Tuesday. It was escorted into the port of Peels
Glascow, and a search by Border Force’s “deep rummage” team began.
Officers discovered
numerous packages containing white powder, which had been distributed
throughout the vessel. Forensic tests indicated the powder was cocaine.
On Monday, the NCA said
it had found more than 250kg of cocaine, which would have a wholesale value to
criminals of about £810m and a potential street value of £16m.
Investigators believe
there may be up to 750kg onboard. NCA, Border Force, and Dyfed-Powys police
officers remained at the scene.
Two men, aged 53 and 41,
were arrested onboard the vessel and remained in custody for questioning.
Four others – three men
aged, 23, 31 and 47 and a woman aged 30 – were arrested in Edinburgh Scotland.
They were later released on bail until late September.
Craig Naylor, the NCA
deputy director of investigations, : “This is a substantial seizure of cocaine,
which would have generated tens of millions of pounds in criminal profits.
These drugs were intended for sale on UK streets, where they will have fuelled
considerable violence and exploitation.
“The NCA works with
partners in the UK and around the world to target the criminal groups posing
the greatest threat to the public.”
Steve Whitton, from
Border Force’s maritime command, said: “This is a major seizure and a testament
to the multi-agency approach we take to secure the UK’s border and territorial
waters.
“Our collaboration with
the NCA, combined with excellent work from the crew of HMC Protector and
officers from our specialist deep rummage team ensured that the cargo was
apprehended at it destination during offload.”
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