Four arrested as £80m worth of cocaine disguised as shea butter seized in major drugs operation

A pistillate successful her 40s was besides arrested connected suspicion of wealth laundering and released nether investigation

A monolithic cause cognition has seen 4 men arrested and £80m worthy of cocaine seized. The National Crime Agency probe saw a mammoth 847.5 kilos of the Class A cause recovered.

Police study that the suspects were arrested connected Wednesday, February 5, and are aged successful their 30s, 40s and 60s. The radical were arrested astatine an code successful Merrington, Shrewsbury, Shropshire but were released connected bail.

It was reported that the NCA probe was launched aft Border Force searched a shipping instrumentality connected 23 December past twelvemonth astatine Tilbury Docks successful Essex. Inside was a coverload of shea butter.

READ MORE: Drug smugglers caught bare successful furniture by constabulary aft moving £8m cocaine ringing done UK airport

But secreted nether it were the blocks of cocaine which each had markings astatine the apical and bottom, including Polo Ralph Lauren logos, a Cessna logo and a Star of David. West Mercia Police provided enactment to the NCA arrests and searches.

A pistillate successful her 40s was besides arrested connected suspicion of wealth laundering and released nether investigation.

David Phillips, NCA operations manager, said: "The NCA works tirelessly with partners astatine location and overseas to support the nationalist from the menace of Class A drugs which origin devastation to communities crossed the UK.

"This is simply a precise important haul of cocaine and its seizure volition origin large losses to the organised transgression radical down its importation."

It comes arsenic successful a abstracted incident, cause smugglers from the US were caught bare successful by constabulary aft moving an £8m cocaine ringing done Manchester Airport.

Five women and 2 men had been promised "considerable" payments by transgression chiefs, earlier being flown to the UK with instructions to cod 12 bags, which contained a full of implicit 300kg of the Class A drug. However, their program was soon successful tatters erstwhile 1 of the bags triggered an alarm aft going done an X-ray machine.

Three members of the radical were instantly arrested, portion 4 others were apprehended successful rooms astatine the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel, located other the airport. Two of them were recovered bare successful furniture erstwhile constabulary officers stormed in.

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