Border Force seized more than £1billion worth of cocaine during a “record-breaking summer”. Officers confiscated 15.6 tonnes between June 1 and August 31 – equivalent to the weight of a double-decker bus.
The Home Office claimed improvements in intelligence-sharing between the National Crime Agency and Border Force were “inflicting major blows on organised crime” gangs. One passenger hid £800,000 worth of cocaine in a cheese wheel before being stopped by officers. And it comes after several huge busts this year.
Officers discovered cocaine worth almost £100million in a container vessel arriving at London Gateway port from Panama.
Border Force officials and staff at the port in Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, had to move 37 large containers to locate the 2.4-tonne haul.
It was described as “one of the largest drugs busts of the past decade”.
Home Office minister Mike Tapp said: “Border Force’s record-breaking summer of seizures – costing criminals a staggering £1billion – shows our mission to deliver safer streets is working.
“Every kilo taken spares countless lives from addiction, prevents hundreds of drug deals and stops communities from descending into violence.
“The criminal gangs inflicting this misery on our streets should know we’re on to you. More than ever, we have the intelligence, expertise and determination to destroy your vile trade.”
But Mr Tapp played down fears that the record seizures actually show how criminal gangs are flooding the UK with drugs.
Mr Tapp said: “It’s really difficult to quantify exactly how much comes in, but it doesn’t mean we stop – we’re determined.
“It is a fantastic win in terms of the haul and what we’ve managed to get off the streets. But the drugs problem continues, and we’ll keep going after those at the very bottom to the very top.”
Adam Thompson, head of drugs threat at the National Crime Agency, said: “The NCA investigates some of the highest-harm drugs groups to impact the UK and works across the globe to collect and share intelligence with domestic and international law enforcement partners to support their operations tackling organised crime.
“This intelligence was key to interdicting large sums of Class A drugs that crime groups tried to smuggle into the UK, and without NCA and Border Force intervention, these drugs would have been moved across the country and led to increased violence, crime and harm in our communities.”
Speaking during a deployment on the Solent, Border Force commander Richard Davies said his teams have to strike quickly to seize the drugs.
He said: “It has to be quick – on board quick, secure the vessel and control the people.
“We’re supported by high-tech equipment, two radar surveillance systems and cameras which can act as a safety measure for us and produce evidence in court at a later date.”
Chief engineer and Border Force officer Graeme Forbes said the “primary threat” was currently cocaine shipments from South America.
“That’s coming in by a variety of routes,” he said. “It’s being dropped off from commercial vessels, by yachts, on fishing vessels, so we have to tailor our response to meet the threat.”
Drug smugglers are hiding more narcotics shipments inside expensive pieces of industrial equipment so they can potentially secure huge compensation payouts, intelligence suggests.
On Tuesday, the Home Office revealed crime gangs stored more than a tonne of cocaine – worth £72million – in two industrial generators worth £360,000 each.
Officers also seized over 100kg of methamphetamine with a street value of £8million stuffed into a shipment of highly valuable solar water heaters weighing over a tonne, which arrived from Mexico. Drugs have also been found hidden in crane arms.
Smugglers often use “decoy” runs, meaning Border Force could face huge compensation bills totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds if they break items during searches.
A record 28 tonnes of cocaine was seized last year as Britain’s drugs crisis intensified.
Border Force and police forces confiscated 28.27 tonnes of cocaine, up 52% on the previous year.
