4.2 tonnes of Europe-bound cocaine seized in joint operation involving the NCA

More than four tonnes of the high-purity cocaine were discovered on a fishing vessel that was intercepted off the coast of Barbados.

Deputy Director Tom Dowdall, head of NCA International, said: “A seizure of this size will have a dramatic impact on the organised crime groups involved, and deprive them of huge profits.”

Working with European partners as part of an investigation started last year, the NCA developed intelligence leading to the identification of the fishing vessel that was carrying the drugs.

On January 17, a French naval vessel operating out of Martinique intercepted and boarded the boat in international waters east of Barbados.

The NCA said the 4.2 tonnes of cocaine found on board would likely have had “a street value of several hundred million pounds to criminal networks in Europe”.

The boat and her eight crew were apprehended and handed over to administrative and judicial authorities.

Throughout the operation, officers from the NCA’s international network shared intelligence and coordinated the deployment of law enforcement and military assets, working closely with international partners through the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (MAOC-N) in Lisbon.

Mr Dowdall said: “The role played by the NCA in identifying and locating the vessel was critical to the success of the operation.

“Through MAOC-N we were then able to ensure that the boat was intercepted by our partners, in this case the French Navy.

“Working with our European partners we have stopped a huge haul of drugs from making it onto the European market, and I’ve no doubt some of that would have ended up in the UK in the hands of criminal gangs also engaged in violence and exploitation.”