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WORLD: French seize £30 million of cocaine bound for London
Peter Allen28.05.09
A record-breaking haul of pure cocaine with a street value of more than £30 million has been found hidden on a British lorry heading for London.
The vehicle's driver and a passenger – both thought to be UK nationals – were being questioned by detectives today after being arrested yesterday in the south of France.
They were allegedly trying to get 684 kilos of the drug – more than half a metric tonne – to England, which is at the centre of the largest cocaine trade in Europe.
This incredible weight of white powder is almost double what British police can usually hope to seize from traders and users in an entire year.
French traffic police became suspicious when the HGV was seen driving erratically on the A9 Mediterranean coast motorway outside the city of Montepellier.
When it was pulled over for routine customs and excise check, a scanner revealed the presence of the "abnormal load". "It's the biggest haul of cocaine every seized in mainland France," added a local customs spokesman.
"The drugs were found on the lorry as it travelled through Francefrom Spain. It's likely that its ultimate destination was London. Police are currently questioning the driver and passenger who were on board, both of whom are thought to be British nationals.
"At the moment they can be held for up to four days, but clearly this period will be extended if they are charged. This is such an important find that budget minister Eric Woerth is coming to examine the drugs personally later this week."
The cocaine was concealed at the back of the lorry trailer, behind a pile of peat.
Masses of white powder were distributed around 32 freshly painted cash registers which had been placed on two wooden boards.
Customs officers said the drug had been also been packaged "with great care" inside a number of plastic bags or rubber containers sealed with silicon.
Spain is the main entry point for cocaine into Europe, with most of it originally coming from South America and Africa.
A report released this month by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) revealed that the street price of pure cocaine had increased from an average of £35,000 per kilo two years ago to about £45,000 today.
Over a twelve month period between 2002-2008, the British police made 19,054 cocaine seizures, totaling 351 kilos of the drug.
The multi-billion pounds cocaine industry has grown rapidly in recent years as the potentially deadly powder is used in night clubs, and even at middle class dinner parties.
It is also remains popular among showbusiness stars and other super-rich celebrities.
Reader views (4)
Sorry guys, this Saturday's themed party (Snow White) is cancelled. Unforeseen hitch.
- Haskey, London SE1
... and what will the smugglers get as a punishment. I guess a rap on the knuckles and a couple of years in prison. C'est la vie!
- Jan, Romford
'John, London' Couldn't agree more with you observations, but what is more worrying is the fact that these two drivers obviously expected to get this through our Border Controls with consumate ease. Something wrong there then.
Nice to see Inspecteur Knackeur is on the ball, so congratulations to the French police.
- Alan, carlisle uk
It sounds very impressive '£30m worth', but the truth is it's unlikely if that much even accounts for a single day's usage in this country - I sincerely doubt it would cover a full weekend.
Unless or until the government take a more multi-pronged attack on this issue: Far, far harsher sentences for smugglers, more arrests of 'high-profile' users, far more resources for tackling it and more effort to change the social perception of cocaine, (as has been done with drink driving) this will never be fixed.
However welcome it may be, for the larger, more organised drug rings, today is just an unfortunate but expected business write-off in a 'war' we are hopelessly losing...
- John, London
