Police seize cocaine worth £78 million in largest ever drugs bust in Northamptonshire

The drugs were discovered at a depot on Northampton's Brackmills Industrial Estate by police who had been called to a reports of a theft from a lorry.

Three men and a woman were arrested and have since been released on bail pending further enquiries following Friday's operation.

Officers had received reports of a theft from a goods vehicle making a delivery at a depot when they discovered the massive haul.

So far they have not established who is responsible for importing the drugs to the UK and where they were to be distributed.

“On arrival, officers discovered holdalls filled with blocks of cocaine and a short time later, with the aid of ANPR, traced a dumped van which contained further bags full of drugs,” Northamptonshire Police said in a statement.

“In total, 18 holdalls were recovered. An investigation has been launched to establish where the cocaine came from and who was transporting it.”

Detective Superintendent Emma James, added: “This is the biggest seizure of Class A drugs by Northamptonshire Police.

“In total we've recovered 780kg of cocaine which, following forensic analysis, has been moved out of the county.

“This was a large-scale transportation of Class A drugs and our investigation will be looking at who was responsible for bringing it into Northamptonshire and what their plans were for distributing it.”