Drugs worth £160m seized at same port in a month

Illegal drugs worth more than £160m have been seized at the Port of Southampton in the space of a month.

On 28 June, Border Force officers discovered 477kg (1,040lb) of cocaine, with an estimated street value of £38m, concealed among pallets of bananas in a shipping container.

Later the same day, officers seized a further 530kg (1,190lb) of cocaine worth about £47m from another container, the Home Office said.

On 10 July, Border Force officers uncovered 960kg (2,116lb) of cocaine with an estimated street value of £76m. Days later, they also found 290kg (639lb) of cannabis worth about £1.2m hidden in a shipment of hardwood flooring.

Home Office minister Jo White said the government was one step ahead of criminal gangs.

"Border Force has cost them tens of millions in under a month," she said.

"These drugs fuel further offending, destroy lives and inflict misery on our communities.

"We will continue our relentless action to hit supply chains, protect the public and secure our borders."

In the year ending March 2025, Border Force seized 150 tonnes of illegal drugs with a street value of £2.6bn, a 40% increase on the previous year and the highest figure since records began.

Lyn Sari, head of Border Force South Region, said: "Every seizure we make is a setback for organised crime.

"I would like to thank our dedicated officers, who work around the clock to prevent these drugs from reaching our streets and causing immense harms."