Handout photos made available on 04 August 2019 by British National Crime Agency (NCA) showing the British National Crime Agency seizing the largest ever seizure of heroin in Britain.
The NCA report that 1.3 tonnes of the class A drug were recovered from a container ship, the MV Gibraltar, after it docked at the port of Felixstowe on 30 August 2019. National Crime Agency intelligence had ascertained that the heroin would be on the vessel when it docked in the UK en route to Antwerp.
The record haul would be worth around 27 million GBP to organised criminals at wholesale, and in excess of 120 million GBP at street level, where it is typically supplied via county lines dealing. The ship arrived on 30 August 2019 and was searched by officers from Border Force and the NCA.
They found a total of 1,297kg of the substance concealed among a cover load of towels and bathrobes. After officers removed the drugs, they returned the container to the vessel, which continued to Antwerp and docked in the Belgian port city on 01 September.
Under surveillance by Dutch and Belgian law enforcement agencies, the container was driven by lorry to a warehouse in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Upon arrival, officers moved in and arrested four people who were in the process of unloading the consignment.
Photos:EPA-EFE/NCA HANDOUT
