Fishing boat carrying £100,000,000 of cocaine busted off Cornwall coast
Cocaine worth an estimated £100,000,000 has been stopped from reaching the streets after a fishing boat was intercepted off the coast of Britain.
The drugs were discovered when Border Force officers stopped a vessel, called the Lily Lola, at sea near Newquay, Cornwall, on Friday afternoon.
Images show 17 brick-shaped packages, mostly in brown wrapping with the label ‘pezx’.
The NCA estimates the one-tonne batch’s street value to be roughly £100,000,000.
Four men were arrested, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
Michael Kelly, 45, of Portway, Manchester, Jon Paul Williams, 46, of St Thomas, Swansea, Patrick Godfrey, 30, of Port Tennant, Swansea, and Jake Marchant, 26, of no fixed address, were all charged with importing a controlled class A drug.
They remain in custody and are due to appear at at Bodmin Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
Branch commander Derek Evans said: ‘This is a significant amount of cocaine that will represent a huge loss for the organised crime group that attempted to import it into the UK.
‘With our partners at Border Force and the Joint Maritime Security Centre, we have successfully removed this harmful drug consignment from the criminal marketplace.
‘Its onward supply would have fuelled exploitation through county lines activity as well as serious violence and knife crime.
‘Our investigation into this importation continues.’
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