British seize 5.7 tons of cocaine on the way to Hamburg Tourists are still unable to visit the Eiffel Tower due to strikes

British investigators have seized 5.7 tonnes of cocaine en route to Hamburg.

With an estimated street value of £450 million, it is the largest consignment of so-called Class A drugs seized in Britain to date. The National Crime Agency (NCA) and the British Border Force announced this on Friday evening.

The drug was seized on February 8 at the port of the southern English city of Southampton. The drugs were therefore hidden in a container with bananas from South America. The cocaine would be distributed from Hamburg. It said the criminal networks involved must now be mapped together with European partners.

NCA: “Big hit”

“This record-breaking seizure is a major blow to the international organized crime cartels involved and deprives them of enormous profits,” said NCA Director Chris Farrimond. “Although the shipment in this case was destined for continental Europe, I have no doubt that a significant portion would have ended up here in Britain and sold by British criminal gangs.”

The largest cocaine discovery in Britain to date was 3.7 tonnes, which was also seized in 2022 in Southampton on the English Channel. The NCA estimates that criminal gangs in Britain make around £4 billion a year from cocaine. In recent years, violence related to drug trafficking has increased exponentially. (sda/dpa)