Yacht seized off UK coast with 2 tonnes of cocaine

UK authorities have seized over 2 tonnes of cocaine in a raid on a luxury yacht off the coast of southern England, the National Crime Agency said Saturday.

British authorities said they arrested six people on Thursday evening after discovering the drugs with an estimated street value of £160 million ($221 million) on a Jamaican-flagged yacht sailing from the Caribbean. 

One British man was arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking along with five Nicaraguans.

The NCA released photographs of the drugs stored in black waterproof bags in the lounge of the docked Kahu yacht.

“There’s no doubt these drugs would have been sold on into communities across the UK,” said NCA deputy director Matt Horne.

The seizure “will smash a hole in the OCG’s (organised criminal gang’s) plans and ability to operate,” he said.

National Crime Agency, Border Force and Australian Federal Police seize drugs worth £160m on yacht off Plymouth. Photo/Theguardian

This summer the Australian police and the FBI revealed they had carried out a sensational operation persuading criminal networks to use supposedly encrypted phones called ANOM that were in fact copying messages to the law enforcement authorities.