£50m cocaine haul found on British beaches

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This handout photo released by the Australian Federal Police on February 6, 2017 shows packages of cocaine seized from a yacht off the New South Wales coast by the Australian Federal Police. (AFP)

(AFP) Cocaine with a street value of more than £50 million (59 million euros, $62 million) washed up on two beaches in England, British officials tasked with disrupting organised crime announced Friday.

This handout photo released by the Australian Federal Police on February 6, 2017 shows packages of cocaine seized from a yacht off the New South Wales coast by the Australian Federal Police. (AFP)

The drugs — 360 kilos (794 pounds) — were in holdalls found at Hopton-on-Sea on Thursday and Caister-on-Sea on Friday, villages on either side of Great Yarmouth, a major port, in Norfolk, the National Crime Agency said.

A member of the public spotted the bags and police are now looking for more that could be in the area.

“This is obviously a substantial seizure of class A drugs, and its loss will represent a major blow to the organised criminals involved,” NCA investigator Matthew Rivers said in a statement.

Two Turkish drug traffickers were jailed in Britain last year after being caught with 3.2 tonnes of cocaine on a boat in the North Sea in 2015 following an international operation.

The drugs had a street value of £500 million and it was believed to be the single biggest cocaine haul ever recovered at sea in Europe.

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