London Gateway: £40m cocaine stash found in banana boxes

Blocks of cocaine with an estimated value of more than £40m have been found in a banana shipment.

The drugs weigh more than half a tonne (500kg) and were discovered at London Gateway port, Thurrock in Essex on Tuesday.

They originated in Columbia and were heading to the Netherlands, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

NCA branch operations manager Adam Berry said the seizure would be "a huge blow" to the criminals behind it.

Mr Berry said the criminal network behind the smuggling attempt would have made "millions of pounds that would have been invested in further criminality".

"The NCA works hard with partners to stop drugs getting that far, and making seizures like this demonstrate how we can break that link between international drug cartels and street-level dealers," he added.

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