Authorities in the UK have seized almost USD$50 million of heroin hidden in a container at the Port of Felixstowe in one of the biggest drug busts the country has seen.
According to multiple reports, which cite the National Crime Agency (NCA), the 400kg haul was discovered hidden under towels and bathrobes when Border Force discovered them on August 2, 2019.
Once the drugs were removed, authorities returned the container to the ship it came from, which continued its scheduled journey to the Port of Antwerp, Belgium.
A man from Bromsgrove, UK, was arrested and questioned in relation to the drug seizure.
Colin Williams, NCA regional Operations Manager was quoted as saying: “The seizure of such a large quantity of heroin is the result of a targeted, intelligence-led investigation, carried out by the NCA with international and UK partners.
“It is almost certain that some of these drugs would have been sold in the UK, fuelling violence and exploitation including what we see in county lines offending nationwide.”
Mark Kennedy, Border Force Deputy Director, also spoke: “Border Force officers operate on the front line, working every day to keep dangerous Class A drugs like this off the UK’s streets.
“Substantial seizures like this help to keep communities safe and hit the organised crime groups involved in the international drugs trade hard.”
PTI reported on August 5, 2019, that officials in Germany had found approximately $1 billion worth of cocaine at the Port of Hamburg, the biggest the country had ever seen.
That came after authorities in the found $1.3 billion at the Port of Philadelphia in June 2019.
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