Police arrest 13 over 'biggest drug operation ever uncovered in UK'
The Guardian
October 8, 2019
Police have arrested 13 men across the country suspected of being part of the biggest drug smuggling gang ever uncovered in the UK.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the men, aged between 24 and 59, were held in dawn raids on Tuesday in London, Manchester, Stockport, St Helens, Warrington, Bolton, Dewsbury and Leeds.
The raids follow an 18-month NCA investigation tracking drugs allegedly smuggled into the country hidden in
Investigators intercepted 351kg of cocaine, 92kg of heroin, 250kg of cannabis and 1,850kg of hashish with a total street value of more than £38m in three consignments in September 2018.
Subsequent inquiries led them to believe that 50 tonnes of drugs worth billions of pounds were imported on numerous occasions between February 2017 and October 2018.
Jayne Lloyd, the NCA’s regional head of investigations, said: “We suspect these men were involved in an industrial-scale operation – the biggest ever uncovered in the UK – bringing in tonnes of deadly drugs that were distributed to crime groups throughout the country.
“By working closely with partners here and overseas, in particular the Dutch national police, we believe we have dismantled a well-established drug supply route.”
As part of the same investigation, four men and two women from the Netherlands were arrested in April this year and are awaiting extradition to the UK.
This investigation is linked to an earlier NCA operation in which 13 people were jailed after the seizure of more than 100kg of heroin in 2015.
1 comment:
Something is missing. What were the drugs hidden in?
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