Cocaine with £40 million street value found in East Yorkshire

500kg of the Class A drug was discovered in the back of a van in the Lelley area yesterday morning

The packages of cocaine found in a van laid out by detectives
Author: Jonny FreemanPublished 5th May 2024
Last updated 7th May 2024

Four men, three from Scotland and one from Colombia, have been arrested after cocaine worth £40 million was found in East Yorkshire.

500 kilograms of the Class A drug was discovered in a van in the Lelley area yesterday morning (Saturday 4th May).

The men were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to import class A drugs following a National Crime Agency operation which was supported by Humberside Police, the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit and Border Force.

The van where the drugs were found
Some of the other items found inside the van searched by officers

It is believed that the drugs had been transferred from a larger vessel sailing off the coast of Hull using a RHIB a few hours before. The smaller boat was found abandoned on rocks at Easington Beach.

The men remain in custody and are now being questioned by NCA investigators. They are a 22-year-old from Argyll, a 32-year-old from Oban, a 24-year-old from Campbeltown and a 39-year-old from Colombia.

NCA Senior Investigating Officer Alan French said:

“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.

“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.

“Our investigation continues following these arrests.”

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