Southend 707 drug bust
Cargo plane dumps 500kg of cocaine
LONDON (Reuters) - Customs officers have seized 32 million pounds of cocaine - their biggest haul ever -- after suitcases containing 500kg of the drug were dumped out of the back of a cargo plane in Essex.
Customs officers waiting at Southend Airport swooped on the Boeing 707 plane and its abandoned cargo on Tuesday night, seizing the drugs and arresting six people.
"As the plane landed, the cargo door opened and six huge suitcases were pushed out the back onto the end of the taxi way," he said.
"Officers moved in immediately. They recovered the cocaine and arrested six people. It has since been confirmed that this is Britain's largest ever seizure of cocaine."
The spokesman would not say if Customs were acting on a tip-off or release any other operational details other than to say the aircraft had come from the Caribbean via the Canary Islands and landed about 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday
He said the suitcases were so big that it took three officers to lift each one.
Five crew members and one other person, believed to be an airport worker, were arrested. There were no details available on their nationality.
They were taken to a London police station for questioning in the morning, he said.