£50m cocaine haul found on British beaches

February 11, 2017 | 11:41
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LONDON: Cocaine with a street value of more than £50 million (59 million euros, $62 million) washed up on two beaches in England, British officials tasked with disrupting organised crime announced Friday.
A handout picture released by Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) on February 10, 2017 shows holdalls containing cocaine which were found at Hopton-on-Sea near Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, southern England on February 9, 2017. (NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY / AFP)

The drugs - 360 kilos (794 pounds) - were in holdalls found at Hopton-on-Sea on Thursday and Caister-on-Sea on Friday, villages on either side of Great Yarmouth, a major port, in Norfolk, the National Crime Agency said.

A member of the public spotted the bags and police are now looking for more that could be in the area.

"This is obviously a substantial seizure of class A drugs, and its loss will represent a major blow to the organised criminals involved," NCA investigator Matthew Rivers said in a statement.

Two Turkish drug traffickers were jailed in Britain last year after being caught with 3.2 tonnes of cocaine on a boat in the North Sea in 2015 following an international operation.

The drugs had a street value of £500 million and it was believed to be the single biggest cocaine haul ever recovered at sea in Europe.

AFP

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