Three Britons, together with a skipper from Stornoway, have been arrested after the French navy intercepted a ship the place 1.2 tonnes of cocaine value £96m was seized.
The 29-year-old from Scotland was allegedly on the helm of a Spanish-registered yacht that was raided on Monday, round 1,200 miles east of Martinique within the Atlantic Ocean.
The three alleged crew members have been arrested and brought to the island to face felony fees.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) mentioned its officers labored alongside brokers in France and Spain as a part of an operation focusing on against the law group suspected of transport cocaine to Europe.
The NCA mentioned officers recovered round 40 bales of cocaine from the vessel, with an estimated UK road worth of £96m.
Spanish authorities in Marbella and Valencia have additionally arrested 5 different individuals suspected of involvement within the cargo.
The suspects included a 62-year-old British man, initially from Lincolnshire however now a resident in Spain, and his 24-year-old son.
The NCA mentioned police swooped in on the pair as they sat down at a restaurant in Marbella on Tuesday.
The operation included officers from the NCA, Spanish Policia Nacional, French customs (DNRED), the French navy, and the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre Narcotics (MAOC-N) in Lisbon.
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Paul Owen, the NCA’s worldwide liaison officer in Madrid, mentioned: “This multi-national operation has seen a huge consignment of cocaine prevented from reaching Europe, and huge profits denied to organised criminals.
“I’ve little doubt that a few of these medicine have been destined for the UK.
“Tackling these global networks requires international law enforcement cooperation, and I’m grateful to our partners in France, Spain, the Caribbean and MAOC-N for their assistance.
“Working collectively we’re decided to do all we are able to to focus on, disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking teams, and forestall them from fuelling violence, intimidation and decay in UK communities.”
Source: information.sky.com”