One of UK’s Largest Cocaine Seizures Made at London Gateway Port

The UK’s Border Force is highlighting one of the largest drug smuggling seizures ever made in the country. They are pointing to an “intelligence-led operation” and the growing cooperation among international law enforcement to disrupt the flow of illegal drugs.

They did not name the specific vessel but said the container was arriving at the London Gateway port from Panama. The smugglers had gone to great lengths to hide the shipment, which was reported to be deep inside a container with legal cargo. Further, the authorities said the target container was buried and required moving 37 other containers. The operation took nearly two days.

When they were finally able to examine the target container, they located 2.4 tonnes of cocaine in over 2,000 blocks. The Border Force estimated the street value at nearly $133 million and said that makes it the sixth—largest seizure since they have kept records.

The authorities reported that they are working with international teams to interrupt the flow of narcotics. They noted cooperation and training programs in Latin America to prevent drugs from reaching the UK and Europe.

They believe the shipment, which was seized on June 14, is part of a larger smuggling operation tied to South American cartels.

While it was a large seizure, it was small compared to the 5.7 tonnes seized at the Port of Southampton in 2024. The Border Force in 2015 also seized 3.2 tonnes of cocaine at the Port of Southampton.

European and international law enforcement have been working with the ports and shipping companies in new efforts to crack down on smuggling. Yet, Europol estimates that just 10 to 15 percent of cocaine shipments are being intercepted at European ports. They have highlighted sophisticated operations by the smugglers to infiltrate port operations and gain release codes for containers to move them undetected, while in other cases, the smugglers are bribing crewmembers to drop the drug parcels near shore for retrieval from waiting small boats.