Cocaine haul worth £10,000,000 found hidden in frozen fish van

Police arrested a 50-year-old man who was driving the truck.

A van containing 100kg of cocaine has been stopped at a UK port.

Border Force officers arrested James Satterley, 50, from Berkshire, after he allegedly tried to smuggle £10 million worth of drugs in a truck containing frozen fish.

Officials stopped a van he had driven off a ferry at Newhaven Port in East Sussex, early on Saturday morning.

National Crime Agency (NCA) officers said they seized cocaine wrapped in 97 one-kilo packages hidden in a load of frozen seafood.

An NCA spokesperson said: ‘If cut and sold at street level it is likely the haul would have had a potential value of around £10 million.’

NCA Senior Investigating Officer Paul Morris added: ‘NCA officers are working alongside Border Force, Sussex Police, Thames Valley Police and the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit to investigate this seizure and the circumstances around it.

‘Working with partners we are determined to do all we can to disrupt the organised crime groups involved in the large-scale importation of class A drugs, which fuel serious violence and impact some of the most vulnerable members of our society. Making seizures like this is an important part of that work.’

Officers questioned Satterley before charging him with importing class A drugs.

He is being held in custody and will appear before Brighton magistrates on Monday.

The drugs have been taken away for further analysis.