Credit: Plymouth Live/The Jamaican yacht Kahu was brought into Plymouth by the National Crime Agency, Australian Federal Police and the Border Force.
Plymouth Live
By Lee Trewhela
Six men have been arrested following the dramatic operation
More than two tonnes of cocaine worth around £160m has been seized and six men arrested in a dramatic operation at sea.
The men – one Briton from Stockton on Tees, County Durham, and five Nicaraguans– were arrested on Thursday evening 80 miles off the coast of Plymouth in an operation led by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and supported by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Border Force.
The suspects were aboard the Kahu, a luxury Jamaican-flagged yacht sailing from the Caribbean. It was escorted back to the UK mainland where a team carried out a deep rummage search and discovered the enormous haul of Class A drugs.
The men, whose ages range from 24 to 49, were arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking and are in custody awaiting interview.
The NCA worked with the AFP which as part of the operation used evidence from its Operation Ironside, the country’s investigation into the AnOm encrypted comms platform.
Matt Horne, NCA deputy director, said: “This is a massive haul of cocaine with an estimated street value of around £160m.
“There’s no doubt these drugs would have been sold on into communities across the UK in such ways as County Lines fuelling more crime and misery. Organised crime groups are motivated by money. The deprivation of these drugs will smash a hole in the OCG’s plans and ability to operate.
“Also, the arrests of the men transporting the drugs means the crime group has lost trusted offenders who would have been key to their operation. We continue to work with partners at home such as Border Force and those abroad such as the AFP to protect the public from the Class A drugs threat.”
AFP Assistant Commissioner Lesa Gale said: “Intelligence from Operation Ironside had enabled the AFP to assist international enforcement partners in disrupting an alleged sophisticated criminal network.
“Operation Ironside has opened the door to unprecedented collaboration across law enforcement agencies around the globe. This result highlights the importance of the AFP’s partnership with the NCA to combat offshore transnational organised crime that impacts both of our countries.
“The AFP and NCA have a strong, historic relationship and both agencies recognise the significant threat to national security posed by transnational organised crime.”