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Cocaine in banana shipment 'worth £76m' found in Southampton

Border Force Cocaine in bananasBorder Force
Border Force officials could not say whether anyone had been arrested over the seizure

Nearly a tonne of cocaine has been seized in a shipment of bananas at Southampton port.

The drugs were found in a shipping container on a commercial vessel bound for Antwerp in Belgium, the UK's Border Force said.

The cocaine weighed 946kg (2,085lb) and had a potential street value of £76m, officers added.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the seizure had thwarted "drug smuggling on an industrial scale".

Border Force Cocaine in bananasBorder Force
The drugs were found in a shipping container bound for Belgium

The cocaine is thought to have been placed in the cargo in Colombia, Border Force said.

It was found last Friday when officers spotted "anomalies" during a routine inspection at the Hampshire port, the agency added.

Regional director Tim Kingsberry said: "This significant seizure has removed a large amount of dangerous drugs from the streets... [and] also makes a huge dent in the profits of smugglers."

Officials could not say whether anyone had been arrested.

Border Force Cocaine in bananasBorder Force
The packages of cocaine were found by officers using specialist search equipment