A 37-year-old Romanian man was charged with importing almost a ton of cocaine into the UK. Daniel Dumitru, from Smethwick, West Midlands, was arrested along with Andrew Smyth, 46, from Prenton, Merseyside, in an operation coordinated by the National Criminal Agency (NCA). The two are accused of importing Class A drugs.
943 kilograms of cocaine, hidden among bananas
The drugs were discovered in Southampton port by Border Force officers working in partnership with the NCA. Upon opening a container that had arrived from Nicaragua, via Panama, they found 943 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of around £75m. The drugs were wrapped in black plastic, stacked like bricks, and hidden between pallets of bananas, according to images released by the NCA.
The two appeared before the court
Daniel Dumitru and Andrew Smyth were charged on Wednesday 18 March with importing Class A drugs and appeared at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 19 March.
“A huge amount destined for the streets of the UK”
Saju Sasikumar, section commander of the NCA, said this was “a huge amount of cocaine that was destined for the streets of the UK”. The official added that Class A drug trafficking brings violence and addiction to communities, and the seizure of this amount hits directly into the pockets of the criminal groups behind the operation who would have reinvested the profits into other criminal activities.
Increasingly sophisticated smuggling methods
The seizure comes amid repeated warnings from the NCA about rising cocaine production in Colombia, which has reached record levels. NCA Director General Graeme Biggar recently said criminals are using increasingly novel methods to smuggle drugs into the country, from molecularly modifying cocaine and mixing it with materials such as charcoal, glue or plastic, to applying the substance to broomsticks or mixing it in bottles of red wine. Drugs arrive in the UK on yachts, small boats, light aircraft, road traffic from mainland Europe, air passengers or even by post.
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