UK: Four arrested after cocaine worth more than $50 million found in pub car park

Source: WION

The United Kingdom's National Crime Agency (NCA) believes that the drugs were brought to shore in a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) after being transferred from a larger vessel off the Hull coast.

Four men have been arrested after half a tonne of cocaine worth more than $50 million (40 million pounds) was found in a van in the car park of a Yorkshire village pub.

Around 500-kilogram of cocaine - with an estimated street value of about more than $50 million - was found in the car park of the Stags Head Inn in Lelley in East Yorkshire, England, said the United Kingdom's National Crime Agency (NCA).

The government agency also said that it believes that the drugs were brought to shore in a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) after being transferred from a larger vessel off the Hull coast.

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The boat was abandoned at Easington Beach, the NCA added. The beach in question is around 29 kilometres away from the pub where the drugs were found in the back of a Vauxhall Vivaro van.

A 22-year-old from Argyll, a 32-year-old from Oban and a 24-year-old from Campbeltown, all in Scotland, and a 39-year-old from Colombia were arrested at 8:30 am (local time) on Saturday (May 4).

"This was a significant amount of cocaine and its seizure will be a sizeable blow to the organised crime group which attempted to smuggle it into the UK," said senior investigating officer Alan French.

"There's no doubt these drugs would have been sold into communities around the UK, fuelling further crime and exploitation. Working with our law enforcement partners we are determined to do all we can to disrupt criminal activity, and protect the UK's border security," French added.

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The senior official also said that the investigation into the case is underway after the arrests. The operation was supported by Humberside Police, the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit and Border Force, said the NCA.

Earlier this year, a shipment of cocaine worth approximately $565 million had been found in a container at Southampton Port carrying bananas from South America. It was the largest-ever seizure of a haul of class-A drugs in the UK and weighed around 5.7 tonnes, according to the NCA.