Three Brits including a father and son have been arrested amid a £96million cocaine bust in the Atlantic after police seized a Spanish-registered yacht that was trafficking drugs to Europe.
Officers from the National Crime Agency worked with counterparts in France and Spain to target a crime group suspected of shipping the cocaine.
The yacht was then seized about 1,200 miles east of Martinique by a French navy frigate on December 18 – with around 40 bales of cocaine weighing 1.2 tonnes recovered by officers.
Three crew members were arrested, including a 29-year-old from Stornoway, Scotland, before they were transported to Martinique to face criminal charges.
Spanish authorities in Marbella and Valencia arrested five more people believed to be involved in the shipment – including a 62-year-old British national from Lincolnshire and his 24-year-old son. The father is now a Spanish resident.
Three Brits including a father and son have been arrested amid a £96million cocaine bust in the Atlantic after police seized a Spanish-registered yacht that was trafficking drugs to Europe
![The yacht was seized about 1,200 miles east of Martinique by a French navy frigate on December 18](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/27/16/79374315-12903887-image-a-5_1703695837010.jpg)
The yacht was seized about 1,200 miles east of Martinique by a French navy frigate on December 18
They were detained by the Policia Nacional as they sat in a restaurant in Marbella on December 19. The group remain in custody as investigations are ongoing.
The operation led to officers from the NCA’s international network working alongside the Spanish Policia Nacional, French customs (DNRED), the French Navy and the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre Narcotics (MAOC-N) in Lisbon.
Paul Owen, the NCA’s International Liaison Officer in Madrid, said: ‘This multi-national operation has seen a huge consignment of cocaine prevented from reaching Europe, and huge profits denied to organised criminals.
I have no doubt that some of these drugs were destined for the UK.
‘Tackling these global networks requires international law enforcement co-operation, and I’m grateful to our partners in France, Spain, the Caribbean and MAOC-N for their assistance.
‘Working together we are determined to do all we can to target, disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking groups, and prevent them from fuelling violence, intimidation and decay in UK communities.’
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