More than £400 million of cocaine has been seized at the UK border in under a month.
Officers carried out major operations in February and March at London Gateway port, which included the sixth‑largest cocaine seizure on record.
The mammoth three tonne haul – heavier than an adult rhino – was discovered disguised as banana boxes in a shipping container, and has an estimated street value is £256 million.
Elite Border Security Command Maritime officers intercepted the shipment from Panama bound for the Netherlands on February 27 2026. The smugglers had tried to replicate the exact shape and weight of banana boxes to conceal the drugs inside, among fruit in a single shipping container. High-tech scanners saw through the ruse, with officers discovering almost 2,800 packages of cocaine — making it one of the largest cocaine seizures on record.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/cocaine-crackdown-rhino-banana-wine-36999576
