Overview

• Officers searched through 37 containers over two days to reveal 2.4 tonnes of high-purity cocaine hidden beneath standard shipping cargo
• Valued at £96 million, the haul ranks as the sixth-largest cocaine seizure on record in the UK
• The intelligence-driven operation employed advanced scanning equipment and canine teams to detect contraband under container floors
• Smugglers have shifted towards concealing drugs in container vessels and employing “asdo” at-sea drop-offs with GPS-equipped packages to evade detection
• UK-led training for Colombian and Ecuadorian law enforcement has bolstered interdictions at source and contributed to rising seizure volumes