The UK National Crime Agency (NCA) seized a record amount of heroin from a containership at the Felixstowe Port following an international investigation. The UK NCA discovered about 1.3 tonnes of the class A drug.
Specifically, UK NCA verified that the heroin would be on the vessel when it docked in the UK en route to Antwerp. The haul was worth about £27 million and £120 million at street level, where it is typically supplied via county lines dealing.
According to the investigation results, the ship arrived on August 30 when it was investigated by officers from Border Force and the NCA. The investigation resulted to a total of 1,297kg of the substance concealed among a cover load of towels and bathrobes.
After recovering the drugs, the officers returned the container to the vessel, which continued its voyage to Antwerp, where it docked on September 1. Under surveillance by Dutch and Belgian law enforcement agencies, the container was driven by lorry to a warehouse in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Upon arrival, officers moved in and arrested four people who were in the process of unloading the consignment.
This record heroin haul follows another large heroin seizure that took place in Felixstowe port in August 2019. In that case, the British authorities seized approximately 398 kilograms of heroin.
In light of this event, NCA Deputy Director, Investigations, Matt Horne commented that the seizure was a record one in the UK one of the largest in Europe.
The size of this and other recent shipments demonstrate the scale of the threat we face. We can be certain that some of these drugs would eventually have been sold in the UK, fuelling high levels of violence and exploitation including what we see in county lines offending nationwide.
Whereas, Jenny Sharp, Border Force Assistant Director at Felixstowe, added
The smugglers had hidden the drugs within a coverload of towels, stitching the 1kg blocks of heroin inside some of the towels. In total it took my officers nearly six hours – working in the early hours of Saturday morning – to remove the drugs.
