Four suspects arrested in Chorley after £140m worth of cocaine discovered inside shipping container

The consignment, which weighed 1.3 tonnes, was discovered in August 2022 at the Port of Felixstowe, Suffolk, after arriving from Sierra Leone.

The Class A drugs, which had a street value of £140m, were hidden in 20 kilo sacks with a cover load of flour.

They were destined to be delivered to an industrial estate in Wigan.

Officers from the National Crime Agency arrested nine suspects from the organised crime group (OCG) in a series of co-ordinated strikes on Wednesday (November 29).

Six of the suspects were allegedly directly linked to the huge seizure.

Three of the alleged OCG members were arrested over other conspiracy to supply Class A drugs offences.

The men are in their forties, fifties and sixties.

Two suspects were arrested at properties in Bootle, one in Crosby and one man was arrested in Birkenhead.

Four suspects were arrested at properties in Chorley, Lancashire.

One man was produced from prison and also arrested.

The men allegedly had various roles within the conspiracy from orchestrating the importation to organising premises and logistics.

All remained in custody for questioning on Wednesday afternoon.

Richie Davies, National Crime Agency Branch Commander, said: “This was a massive haul of cocaine with an estimated street value of £140m.

“There is no doubt these drugs would have been sold on into communities across the UK fuelling violence, exploitation and misery.

“Since the seizure of the drugs the agency has been working intensely to identify and pursue those responsible.”

Five suspects were arrested in late 2022 over the importation and were later released under investigation.

Three of those suspects were rearrested on Wednesday.