Border Force officers have seized 12 tonnes of cannabis with an estimated value of £139 million, in what is believed to be the agency’s largest-ever interception of the drug.
The discovery was made at Southampton Port, where around 1,200 boxes of cannabis were found packed into two shipping containers that had arrived from Canada, according to the Home Office.
Officials said intelligence analysts worked with Canadian authorities and UK law-enforcement agencies to identify and track the containers before they reached the UK. The shipment was intercepted on 6 May, surpassing the previous record haul by four tonnes.
“Congratulations to our brilliant Border Force officers for this record-breaking haul,” Migration minister Mike Tapp said, adding, “We will not allow criminal gangs to profit from misery and peddle their vile trade. More than ever before, we are working with policing and international partners to secure our borders and keep our streets safe.”
The Home Office confirmed that the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit arrested three individuals on suspicion of facilitating importations on Tuesday.
