The UK's National Crime Agency has recorded its largest-ever heroin bust off a Maersk boxship.
Law enforcement said Wednesday that it tracked nearly 1.3 tonnes of the drug — street value £120m ($164.2m) — from Felixstowe to Rotterdam after the ship dropped anchor in the UK 30 August.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) did not name the owner of the ship, but maritime security firm Gray Page identified it as the 10,100-teu Maersk Gibraltar (built 2012).
"This is a record heroin seizure in the UK and one of the largest ever in Europe," said NCA deputy director Matt Horne.
"It will have denied organised crime tens of millions of pounds in profits, and is the result of a targeted, intelligence-led investigation, carried out by the NCA with international and UK partners."
According to the NCA, the ship was searched by its officers and officers from Border Force upon arrival, where the heroin was found.
The ship was allowed to sail on to Antwerp, where it docked 1 September. From there, Dutch and Belgian authorities tracked the container, now being transported by truck, to a warehouse in Rotterdam. Four were arrested.
Gray Page said the drugs were believed to have originated in Pakistan. The Maersk Gibraltar began its journey at Jawaharal Nehru in India and called at Tanger Med before continuing on to the UK.
In addition to being the country's largest-ever, it was the second major heroin bust at Felixstowe in August.
On 1 August, authorities seized nearly 400kg of the drug, street value $48.5m (£40m), in much the same way.
The drugs were hidden under bathrobes and Dutch and Belgian police tracked the shipment to a warehouse.
