Investigators from the UK’s National Crime Agency and Portugal’s Judicial Police, arrested 12 people on a cruise ship after discovering 18 kilos of cocaine hidden in crisp packets and ceramic bowls.
The suspects include two British nationals and a Dutch citizen based in London, were detained after the cocaine was found on MSC Opera as it docked in Funchal in Madeira on a cruise that started in the Caribbean.
When cut, the haul would have had a UK street value of around €2.3 million, the NCA said.
Six of those arrested recently had flown from the UK to Madeira and had planned separately to travel to multiple destinations in Europe had they not been arrested.
Commenting the arrest of the suspects, aged between 20 and 52, Allan Round from the NCA said, “We believe this operation will have seriously disrupted an organised crime group looking to traffic cocaine into the UK and Europe.
“Working with our Portuguese colleagues we have been able to act on intelligence at speed and prevent this quantity of drugs from reaching its final destination.
“Once in the UK we know cocaine generates huge profits for criminal networks who are also involved in street violence and exploitation, so stopping it will help reduce the harm caused by them.”
In December 2018, Portuguese police warned that trafficking gangs were recruiting pensioners to smuggle drugs on cruise ships after arresting an British couple attempting to bring cocaine into the country.
Roger and Susan Clarke, then aged 72 and 70 respectively, were in possession of cocaine worth €550,000 when they arrived in Lisbon on a cruise ship that had started its voyage in Caribbean.
