Officers seize £40m of cocaine from van

FOUR men have been arrested in connection with a plot to import £40m of cocaine into Yorkshire.

National Crime Agency officers detained the men on suspicion of conspiracy to import class A drugs at around 8.30am on Saturday in the village of Lelley, near Hull.

The NCA operation was supported by Humberside Police, the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit and Border Force.

It follows the seizure of around 500 kilos of cocaine found in the back of a Vauxhall Vivaro van in the car park of the Stags Head Inn.

It is believed that the drugs had been transferred from a larger vessel sailing off the coast of Hull using an inflatable boat a few hours before. The smaller boat was found abandoned on rocks at Easington Beach.

The men remain in custody and are now being questioned by NCA investigators.

They are a 22-year-old from Argyll, a 32-year-old from Oban, a 24-year-old from Campbeltown, all in Scotland, and a 39-year-old from Colombia.

NCA Senior Investigating Officer Alan French said the drugs would have fuelled crime and exploitation across the UK.

He said: “This was a significant amount of cocaine and its seizure will be a sizeable blow to the organised crime group which attempted to smuggle it into the UK.

“There’s no doubt these drugs would have been sold into communities around the UK, fuelling further crime and exploitation.

“Working with our law enforcement partners we are determined to do all we can to disrupt criminal activity, and protect the UK’s border security.

“Our investigation continues following these arrests.”

Lelley is a small village in the civil parish of Elstronwick, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, in Holderness. It is seven miles from Hull city centre and three miles north of Hedon.