2.3 tonnes of cocaine worth £184m seized at Portsmouth International Port as 10 men arrested by police

The National Crime Agency today revealed 10 men aged 21-56 have been arrested after the class A drug was seized on Valentine’s Day.

Officers believe it is thought to be one of the biggest seizures made in Britain with a multi-million pound street value.

Border Force officers found the drugs after searching a container that arrived on a cargo ship from Colombia on February 13.

A spokeswoman said it was ‘masquerading as a legitimate consignment of bananas’.

The 41 pallets that had been carrying the drug were sent on to an industrial estate in Tottenham, North London.

Officers in the Organised Crime Partnership, backed up by armed Met and NCA units, intercepted the five recipients.

Another five men were arrested at a different industrial estate in Enfield yesterday.

All are being held in custody. Three have been charged with importing class A drugs and are due at court this afternoon.

Detective Superintendent Simon Moring from the Met police said the operation ‘resulted in one of the UK’s biggest ever seizures of cocaine’.

He said: ‘This significant seizure means that these dangerous drugs cannot reach the streets of London and beyond, where they have the potential to cause great harm to people and communities.’

John Coles, head of specialist operations at the NCA, said: ‘The numbers here speak for themselves; this is a massive seizure which has denied organised criminals hundreds of millions in profits, and is the result of a targeted investigation conducted jointly by the NCA and Met Police.

‘The NCA is focused on disrupting the organised crime groups posing the most significant risk to the UK, which includes those involved in class A drug supply.

‘Illegal drugs are a corrosive threat and those who deal in cocaine are often violent and exploitative. Cocaine supply is directly linked to the use of firearms, knife crime and the exploitation of young and vulnerable people.

‘We work closely with domestic and international partners to target those at the top of the chain and ensure that transnational drug networks are met with a global response.

‘Border Force is a key partner and were vital in preventing these drugs from being successfully trafficked into the country.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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