News Digest

Over two tonnes of cocaine seized off the coast of Scotland in joint French raid

Nine men have been charged with drug trafficking after British coastguards seized more than two tonnes of cocaine off the east coast of Scotland. French customs shared “specific information allowing two ships from the Royal Navy and the British coastguards to board a tug 60 miles east of Scotland carrying a very large quantity of cocaine, more than two tons” on Thursday, it said in a statement. The drugs were found when the HMS Somerset and Border Force cutter Valiant intercepted the Hamal, a 35-metre tugboat registered in the Marshall Islands and owned by a Ukrainian company.

The exact amount of cocaine on board is yet to be determined and the search is likely to continue for some time.

NCA’s Border Policing Command

The crew of the Hamal, nine men aged between 26 and 63, were detained for questioning by investigators from the National Crime Agency’s Border Policing Command, and later charged with drug trafficking offences. French customs identified the ship after it left the Canary Islands for northern Europe in mid-April by an unusual route that skirted Britain. The boat’s suspicious itinerary meant officials feared that cocaine from South America had been loaded in the Canary Islands, French customs said.