Cannabis with an estimated street value of more than £2.7m has been seized by Border Force officers at the Port of Felixstowe.
The drugs, which had been shipped from the Netherlands, were concealed within a trailer carrying a legitimate cargo of potted plants.
The seizure of the Class B drug was made on Friday (4 October) at 11pm. Herbal cannabis weighing 540kgs was found in 68 boxes spread among the potted plants.
Phillip Holliday, Border Force Regional Director, said:
If proof were needed that drug smugglers are serious criminals it is provided by seizures of this scale. Make no mistake this is a big business that trades on human misery and we are working tirelessly to stop it.
Seizures like this demonstrate how Border Force officers are at the forefront of the fight to keep illegal drugs and other banned substances off the streets.
A 52-year-old man and a 41-year-old man, both from the Netherlands, were arrested on suspicion of the illegal importation of a Class B drug. They have been bailed while investigations, which are being carried out by the National Crime Agency’s Border Policing Comand, continue.
Border Force officers use hi-tech search equipment to combat immigration crime and detect banned and restricted goods that smugglers attempt to bring into the country.
They use an array of search techniques including sniffer dogs, carbon dioxide detectors, heartbeat monitors and scanners - as well as visual searches - to find well-hidden stowaways, illegal drugs, firearms and cigarettes which would otherwise end up causing harm to local people, businesses and communities.
Anyone with information about suspected smuggling should contact our hotline on 0800 59 5000.