Britons arrested after drugs gang disguised £240 MILLION haul of cocaine as wood and charcoal 'bound for the UK'

  • Detectives found £240 million of cocaine disguised as wood and charcoal
  • A shipping container was raided in Valencia and 1.5 tonnes was found
  • Believed the drug was bound for Britain, and find triggered raids in the UK
  • Six men from Merseyside were among those arrested following the bust

By Jenny Stanton For Mailonline

Published: 04:08 EST, 13 December 2015 | Updated: 06:46 EST, 13 December 2015

Detectives have discovered a £240 million haul of cocaine disguised as wood and charcoal 'bound for the streets of Britain'.

Spanish Police raided a shipping container in Valencia after a tip-off from the National Crime Agency, and found 1.5 tonnes of the Class A drug.

Pallets had been made by compressing the cocaine powder, and the substance was also disguised as charcoal. It is believed the drugs were bound for Liverpool.

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Disguised: The huge haul of cocaine had been compressed to be made to look like charcoal and wood

Disguised: The huge haul of cocaine had been compressed to be made to look like charcoal and wood

Find: The discovery was made when Spanish police raided a shipping container which from Colombia

Find: The discovery was made when Spanish police raided a shipping container which from Colombia

The raid on the container, which had come from Colombia and arrived in the Port of Valencia on November 30, triggered raids across the UK and Dubai on December 1.

National Crime Agency officers arrested a 44-year-old at Liverpool Airport, as well as a 54-year-old and a 50-year-old in the rooftop car park of the Belle Vale Shopping Centre, Liverpool.

Merseyside Police detained a 46-year-old at an address in Knowsley Village. All have since been bailed pending further enquiries. 

Meanwhile, Dubai Police's anti-narcotic unit arrested a 39-year-old and a 38-year-old, from Liverpool, at a luxury apartment. They remain in custody.

Compressed: The raid on the container, which contained 1.5 tonnes of disguised cocaine, triggered raids across the UK and Dubai on December 1

Compressed: The raid on the container, which contained 1.5 tonnes of disguised cocaine, triggered raids across the UK and Dubai on December 1

Haul: Pallets had been made by compressing the cocaine powder, and it was also disguised as charcoal

Haul: Pallets had been made by compressing the cocaine powder, and it was also disguised as charcoal

Another five men – two Colombians, two Peruvians and a Spaniard – were detained on December 3 by Spanish police at company based at an industrial unit in Chiva following the delivery of a dummy consignment of charcoal. They remain in custody.

Greg McKenna, National Crime Agency regional head of investigations, said: 'We believe the charcoal company was a front for an industrial-sized lab where cocaine was extracted from pallets and charcoal, processed and repackaged for onward distribution across Europe.

'This seizure of cocaine, the shutting down of the lab and the eleven arrests will have disrupted criminal activity across the whole of Europe.' 

Arrests: A 44-year-old at Liverpool Airport was among those arrested

Arrests: National Crime Agency officers arrested a 44-year-old at Liverpool Airport, among other Britons

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