UK Authorities Seize Cocaine Worth More Than $130 Million From a Ship at London Port
British authorities seized 2.4 metric tons of cocaine in a ship arriving in England from Panama, authorities said Saturday, calling it one of the UK's biggest drug busts in years. The drugs, valued at 96 million pounds ($132 million), were found under containers on a vessel at London Gateway port east of the British capital.
The shipment was discovered after what officials said was an intelligence-led operation. Britain's Home Office, the interior ministry, said it was the sixth-largest cocaine seizure on record.
UK Border Force Maritime Director Charlie Eastaugh said the seizure was 'just one example of how dedicated Border Force maritime officers remain one step ahead of the criminal gangs who threaten our security. Our message to these criminals is clear – more than ever before, we are using intelligence and international law enforcement cooperation to disrupt and dismantle your operations.'
Britain is one of Europe's biggest markets for cocaine, according to the National Crime Agency. The UK government says cocaine-related deaths in England and Wales rose by 31 percent between 2022 and 2023.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Senior official says Home Office staff alarmed by ‘absurd' Palestine Action ban
LONDON: A senior British civil servant has described a 'tense atmosphere' inside the Home Office department following Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's recent announcement that the protest group Palestine Action is to be banned under anti-terror laws, it was reported on Saturday. Cooper on Monday confirmed plans to proscribe the group under the Terrorism Act, a move that would make membership or support a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. It would mark the first time a non-violent protest movement is classified alongside banned terrorist organizations such as Daesh and Al-Qaeda and some far-right groups. A senior Home Office official, speaking anonymously, said concern over the decision was widespread within the department, The Guardian newspaper reported. 'My colleagues and I were shocked by the announcement,' they said. 'All week, the office has been a very tense atmosphere, charged with concern about treating a non-violent protest group the same as actual terrorist organisations like Isis (Daesh), and the dangerous precedent this sets. 'From desk to desk, colleagues are exchanging concerned and bemused conversations about how absurd this is and how impossible it will be to enforce. Are they really going to prosecute as terrorists everyone who expresses support for Palestine Action's work to disrupt the flow of arms to Israel as it commits war crimes? 'It's ridiculous and it's being widely condemned in anxious conversations internally as a blatant misuse of anti-terror laws for political purposes to clamp down on protests which are affecting the profits of arms companies,' they added. The decision to proscribe comes after four people were arrested following a break-in at RAF Brize Norton airbase, where Palestine Action activists sprayed red paint on two military aircraft. The group said the protest was in response to Britain's role in 'sending military cargo, flying spy planes over Gaza and refuelling US and Israeli fighter jets.' In a statement, Cooper said the protest was part of a 'long history of unacceptable criminal damage committed by Palestine Action.' Palestine Action responded by saying: 'Proscription is not about enabling prosecutions under terrorism laws — it's about cracking down on non-violent protests which disrupt the flow of arms to Israel during its genocide in Palestine.' The move comes amid wider civil service unrest over UK policy on Gaza. Earlier this month, more than 300 Foreign Office officials signed a letter warning the government risked complicity in Israeli war crimes. In response, the department's top civil servants told signatories: 'If your disagreement with any aspect of government policy or action is profound, your ultimate recourse is to resign from the civil service. This is an honourable course.' The proscription order will be laid before Parliament on Monday and could come into effect by the end of the week. When asked for comment by The Guardian, the Home Office referred to Cooper's original statement.
Al Arabiya
8 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
UK Authorities Seize Cocaine Worth More Than $130 Million From a Ship at London Port
British authorities seized 2.4 metric tons of cocaine in a ship arriving in England from Panama, authorities said Saturday, calling it one of the UK's biggest drug busts in years. The drugs, valued at 96 million pounds ($132 million), were found under containers on a vessel at London Gateway port east of the British capital. The shipment was discovered after what officials said was an intelligence-led operation. Britain's Home Office, the interior ministry, said it was the sixth-largest cocaine seizure on record. UK Border Force Maritime Director Charlie Eastaugh said the seizure was 'just one example of how dedicated Border Force maritime officers remain one step ahead of the criminal gangs who threaten our security. Our message to these criminals is clear – more than ever before, we are using intelligence and international law enforcement cooperation to disrupt and dismantle your operations.' Britain is one of Europe's biggest markets for cocaine, according to the National Crime Agency. The UK government says cocaine-related deaths in England and Wales rose by 31 percent between 2022 and 2023.
Arab News
13 hours ago
- Arab News
UK distances new spy chief from ‘Nazi' grandfather
LONDON: The British government has distanced the incoming head of its foreign intelligence service from her grandfather following reports he was a Nazi spy known as 'the butcher.'Blaise Metreweli will in the autumn become the first woman to lead MI6 in its 116-year-old history, the British government announced earlier this Daily Mail newspaper reported this week that her grandfather Constantine Dobrowolski defected from the Soviet Union's Red Army to become a Nazi informant in the Chernigiv region of modern-day newspaper said German archives showed Dobrowolski was known as 'the Butcher' or 'Agent No 30' by Wehrmacht commanders.'Blaise Metreweli neither knew nor met her paternal grandfather,' a Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.'Blaise's ancestry is characterised by conflict and division and, as is the case for many with eastern European heritage, only partially understood.'It is precisely this complex heritage which has contributed to her commitment to prevent conflict and protect the British public from modern threats from today's hostile states, as the next chief of MI6.'The Daily Mail said Dobrowolski had a 50,000 ruble bounty placed on him by Soviet leaders, and was dubbed the 'worst enemy of the Ukrainian people.'He also sent letters to superiors saying he 'personally' took part 'in the extermination of the Jews,' the newspaper head of MI6 is the only publicly named member of the organization and reports directly to the foreign 47, will be the 18th head of her predecessors she will be referred to as 'C,' not 'M' as the chief is called in the James Bond film franchise.
