National Crime Agency hails seizure as a major blow to organised crime after drugs found near Great Yarmouth and Caister

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Cocaine with a street value of up to £50m has washed up on two Norfolk beaches, the National Crime Agency has said.

NCA officers were initially called to Hopton beach near Great Yarmouth after a member of the public discovered a number of holdalls packed full of the class A drug.

A small number of packages were discovered separately nearly 10 miles north on the coast near Caister-on-Sea. The total haul weighs about 360kg (794lbs).



Images of the find showed a large pile of holdalls in bright reds, greens, oranges and blues, with some marked with the logo of outdoor brand North Face.

Map showing Caister and Hopton, Norfolk, where the drugs were washed up The drugs were washed up at Caister and Hopton on the Norfolk coast.

Hopton-on-Sea is a resort with a population of almost 3,000. It is home to Potters Resort, the first permanent, mixed-use holiday camp in the UK, which every January hosts the World Indoor Bowls Championships. Caister, with almost 9,000 residents, is also home to one of the UK’s oldest caravan and holiday parks.

Police and Border Force officers initially attended the scene and secured the holdalls. The case was then referred to the NCA.

Matthew Rivers from the NCA’s border investigation team said: “We are now working with Border Force, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Norfolk police to try to establish how the bags ended up where they did. It is extremely unlikely that this was their intended destination.

“This is obviously a substantial seizure of class A drugs and its loss will represent a major blow to the organised criminals involved.”

Norfolk police have urged members of the public who find further packages to contact them.

Supt Dave Buckley of Norfolk police said: “We are assisting the National Crime Agency with their searches and while we believe we have recovered all the packages, should any member of the public find one, they are urged to contact Norfolk constabulary immediately on 101”

This is not the first time a large quantity of illegal drugs has washed up on the shores of the UK and Ireland. Late last year, a torpedo-type device containing cocaine valued at up to £4.3m was found on a beach in Country Clare.

In 2008, a series of separate landings of cocaine were made on Cornwall’s beaches with a value of £7m. Packages worth more than £1.5m and £100,000 have washed up on beaches in north and south Wales respectively.

The UK’s biggest seizure of cocaine was three tonnes. The haul, worth £500m, was found inside the ship MV Hamal about 100 miles off the coast of Aberdeen in April 2015. Two Turkish men, Mumin Sahin and Emin Ozmen, were sentenced to 20 years in prison for smuggling the drugs.