London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Is UK corrupt? Cocaine worth £184m found in London!

Is UK corrupt? Cocaine worth £184m found in London!

With the ex-governor Augustus J. U. Jaspert late last year labeling the Virgin Islands (VI) as corrupt following the discovery of some $250m worth of cocaine on Tortola in early November 2020, the question continues to be asked what would the controversial UK civil servant label his own country, since cocaine busts are not strange there.

The ex-governor’s statement had angered Virgin Islanders, who were already perturbed over his statements on reparations and preserving names of landmarks honouring perpetrators of slavery, statements some considered racist.

2.3 tonnes of cocaine was imported from Columbia


As recent as Sunday, February 14, 2021, cocaine worth up to £184 million was seized in the UK after it was imported from Colombia in a consignment of bananas.

According to several UK publications, including PA Media, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said the seizure of around 2.3 tonnes of the Class A drug is believed to be one of the largest ever in the UK.

Ten men, aged between 21 and 56, were arrested following an armed raid at an industrial estate in Tottenham, north London, on Thursday, February 18, 2021, after the delivery of 41 pallets.

Dramatic footage, according to the UK publication, shows firearms officers, wearing helmets and gas masks, smash down the door before raiding the building, which contains stacked boxes of bananas.

The cocaine had already been removed by Border Force officers at Portsmouth International Port on Sunday after the consignment arrived on a cargo ship from Colombia the previous day.

The NCA, which carried out the investigation with the Metropolitan Police under the Organised Crime Partnership, said the drugs could have been worth £184 million if sold on UK streets.

‘UK’s biggest ever seizures of cocaine’


The Met’s Detective Superintendent Simon Moring said: “This operation is a great example of partnership working between the Met, NCA and Border Force, which resulted in one of the UK’s biggest ever seizures of cocaine – around 2.3 tonnes.

“We know there is an inextricable link between drugs and violence – that is why tackling the importation and supply of drugs is a crucial part of our work to reduce violent crime in London,” Moring said.

John Coles, head of specialist operations at the NCA, said: “The numbers here speak for themselves; this is a massive seizure which has denied organised criminals hundreds of millions in profits, and is the result of a targeted investigation conducted jointly by the NCA and Met Police.

“The NCA is focused on disrupting the organised crime groups posing the most significant risk to the UK, which includes those involved in class A drug supply.

2 major cocaine busts were made in Essex late 2020


The historic drug bust in the UK reminds of the more than a tonne of cocaine, worth £100 million, found hidden in a shipment of banana pulp in Essex back in November 2020.

According to the UK publication, Evening Standard, the 1,060 kilograms of concealed cocaine were discovered hidden in a shipping container as part of routine inspections by Border Force at the London Gateway depot in Essex.

The discovery on November 12, 2020, had marked the second-largest shipment of cocaine to be discovered at the Essex port in the space of two months.

Corruption label was part of CoI scheme?


Meanwhile, many believe the labeling of the Virgin Islands as having systematic corruption after the drug bust in November 2020 was part of Mr Jaspert’s scheme to try to justify calling the Commission of Inquiry in January 2021, mere days after he demitted the Governor’s Office.

Just like when the drug bust was made, detailed information about the Commission of Inquiry was splashed menacingly across newspapers across the UK, even before the local media was able to get proper information.

Many saw this as an attempt to tarnish the reputation of the Virgin Islands on the international scene and to get UK’s Government and public support to intervene into the governing affairs of the territory.

According to political pundits, the main reason behind the CoI is because the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) Government of Andrew A. Fahie (R1) has been pushing a narrative of independence at a time when the territory is due for constitutional review and the CoI is a tool to keep the colonialist status quo.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the seizure of around 2.3 tonnes of the Class A drug is believed to be one of the largest ever in the UK.

With the ex-governor Augustus J. U. Jaspert late last year labeling the Virgin Islands (VI) as corrupt following the discovery of some $250m worth of cocaine on Tortola in early November 2020, the question continues to be asked what would the controversial UK civil servant label his own country, since cocaine busts are not strange there.

The discovery of cocaine at a port in Essex, UK, on November 12, 2020, marked the second-largest shipment of cocaine to be discovered at the Essex port in the space of two months.

Just like when the drug bust was made in the Virgin Islands in November 2020, detailed information about the Commission of Inquiry was splashed menacingly across newspapers across the UK, even before the local media was able to get proper information. Even the Government and Financial Services were caught off guard.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×