Six arrested after £60m of cocaine is found on yacht

A £60 MILLION cocaine haul seized on a yacht off the coast of Wales could have been destined for county lines gangs, it was suggested yesterday.

Border Force officials intercepted the vessel, named the Sy Atrevido, as it approached the end of its journey from South America to the UK on Tuesday.

Hidden below deck were hundreds of kilograms of cocaine with a street value of up to £60million, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Officers say as much as 750kg of the narcotic could be on board the yacht, which was targeted after intelligence that it was carrying drugs. Two men, aged 53 and 41, were arrested on the vessel and remain in police custody.

It is hoped the seizure will have a “significant impact” on the UK drugs market and disrupt county lines gangs, who often use children to ferry drugs from cities to smaller towns.

Speaking near the yacht at Fishguard port, Craig Naylor, the NCA deputy director of investigations, said yesterday: “What we have done today, working with partners in Border Force, Dyfedpowys Police and others, is to show that we continue to fight to take drugs off the streets to stop the harm caused by county lines and other drug dealing and the violence associated with them.”

Searches of the nondescript white yacht continued yesterday after 250kg of packages full of white powder were found hidden throughout the vessel.

Tests indicated that the powder was cocaine, the NCA said, meaning the haul had a wholesale value of around £8million and a potential street value of £20million. This figure would climb as high as £60million if 750kg of cocaine was on board as suspected.

Four more people – three men aged 23, 31 and 47 and a woman aged 30 – were arrested in Liverpool and Loughborough in connection with the find, according to the force. They have been released on bail until late September.