Four men have been charged after a fishing boat carrying one tonne of cocaine worth an estimated £100,000,000 was intercepted off the coast of Britain.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) arrested the suspects after seizing the huge haul when a boat was stopped at sea off the coast of Newquay, Cornwall.
Border Force officers intercepted the vessel on Friday afternoon, September 13, before uncovering the drugs.
Michael Kelly, 45, of Portway, Manchester, Jon Paul Williams, 46, of St Thomas, Swansea, Patrick Godfrey, 30, of Port Tennant, Swansea, and Jake Marchant, 26, of no fixed address, were all charged with importation of a controlled Class A drug.
All four men have been remanded in custody to appear at Bodmin Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
Derek Evans, NCA Branch Commander, said: ‘This is a significant amount of cocaine that will represent a huge loss for the organized crime group that attempted to import it into the UK.
‘With our partners at Border Force and the Joint Maritime Security Centre, we have successfully removed this harmful drug consignment from the criminal marketplace.
‘Its onward supply would have fuelled exploitation through county lines activity as well as serious violence and knife crime.
‘Our investigation into this importation continues.’