Cocaine worth estimated €1.86m seized at Belfast port

Cocaine worth an estimated £1.6 million (€1.86 million) has been discovered at Belfast Port.

Adam Warnock, branch commander with the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA), said it was a "significant seizure of cocaine, one of the biggest to be made by law enforcement in Northern Ireland in recent years".

The NCA said 20kg of the drug were found on Monday hidden inside an empty fuel tank in a van which had just arrived on a ferry from Birkenhead.

Officers using special equipment were brought in to recover the drugs in an operation lasting several hours and also involving Belfast Harbour Police, Border Force and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

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The driver, a 39-year-old man from Wolverhampton, was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to supply controlled drugs.

Following the seizure a second man, aged 46, was arrested in Wolverhampton on suspicion of the same offences.

Mr Warnock said the loss of profit that would have been made from the sale of the cocaine “will be felt by the criminal groups involved in drug supply in the province”.

He said: “Those groups are also involved in exploitation and violence in our communities, so taking away these drugs will prevent them from reinvesting in further criminal activity.”

PSNI Detective Chief Superintendent John McVea said police were pleased with the “positive impact this will have for individuals and communities within Northern Ireland in terms of disrupting the distribution and supply of Class A drugs and bringing those harmful offenders to justice”.

He said: “Anything we can do to support a collective effort across a range of partners . . . is always welcomed, as well as the fact that cocaine with an estimated street value of over £1.6 million has been taken out of the control of criminals.”