Lancashire men arrested after huge haul of cocaine worth ‘£140m’ discovered inside shipping container

Border Force officers discovered the huge haul of Class A drugs in 20 kilo sacks inside a shipping container at the Port of Felixstowe, Suffolk, in August.

The discovery sparked an investigation by the National Crime Agency.

Officers coordinated a series of raids on Tuesday morning (November 29) and subsequently arrested four men.

Two of the suspects – aged 67 and 48 – were from Chorley, one 39-year-old was from Bolton and the fourth was a 40-year-old from Derby.

NCA officers conducted searches of their homes and a number of business premises in Derby, Chorley and Standish, near Wigan.

They were all arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to import cocaine and remain in custody for questioning.

Richie Davies, NCA Branch Commander, said: “This is a massive haul of cocaine with an estimated street value of £140m the NCA has been working intensely to identify and pursue those responsible.

“There’s no doubt these drugs would have been sold on into communities across the UK in such ways as County Lines fuelling further crime and misery.

“Organised crime groups are motivated by money and the deprivation of these drugs knocks a hole in the OCG’s plans and ability to operate.

“We continue to work with partners such as Border Force in our mission to protect the public from the Class A drugs threat.”

If you are concerned about drug dealing in your community you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.