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Third man charged over cocaine in banana shipment

NCA Hundreds of brick-shaped packs of cocaine stacked in small piles on a concrete floor in front of a Border Force flagNCA
Almost a tonne of cocaine was intercepted by Border Force officers

A third man has been charged after a "massive" haul of cocaine, stashed among pallets of bananas, was seized at Southampton Docks.

Almost a tonne (943kg) of the class A drug, with a street value of about £75m, was seized after the container it was in had sailed from Nicaragua via Panama to the UK.

Joshua Berry, 28, of Bransgore, Hampshire, was due before Southampton magistrates on Saturday, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

He is charged with importing class A drugs and production of class B drugs.

NCA A silver shipping container with the doors open. Inside are stacked green plastic trays and black packages wrapped in black plastic.NCA
The drugs were hidden among a consignment of bananas

The seizure of drugs was carried out by Border Force officers, acting in partnership with the NCA.

Daniel Dumitru, 37, from Smethwick in the West Midlands and Andrew Smyth, 46, from Prenton, Merseyside, were charged on 18 March with importing Class A drugs.

NCA Branch Cdr Saju Sasikumar said: "This is a massive amount of cocaine which was destined for the streets of the UK."

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