Southampton: Heroin found in bottles of pomegranate juice at docks

Oct 23, 2023

HEROIN with a street value of £38.8m has been seized at Southampton docks.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) says it has foiled a plot to smuggle the Class A drug into the UK in bottles of pomegranate juice.

A consignment weighing 388 kilos was discovered in a shipping container by NCA and Border Force officers on Tuesday.

The container was allowed to continue its journey to industrial premises in Birmingham, where NCA officers arrested three suspects as they began to unload the cargo.

A fourth man was detained at a residential address in Alum Rock, Birmingham.

All the suspects were subsequently released on bail.

Derek Evans, NCA branch commander, said: "The Class A drug trade is a scourge to society and this seizure goes a significant way to helping to protect the public.

"Drugs are inextricably linked with organised crime groups and the use of serious violence which can often spill over wrecking the lives of innocent victims and their families.

"The NCA works at home and abroad to do everything it can to stop heroin coming into the UK and damaging our communities."

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