Britons held after £80m cocaine find

Four British men were arrested while officials seized £80m worth of cocaine in Ghana yesterday.

Four British men were arrested while officials seized £80m worth of cocaine in Ghana yesterday.

A British-led operation involving Spanish police and Ghanaian authorities seized a ton of the drug in a raid on a villa in a suburb of Accra, the capital. British customs officers at the forefront of the six-month investigation that led to the raid claimed all the cocaine was destined for the UK.

One German man and two Ghanaians were also arrested.

A spokesman for Customs and Excise described the seizure as "huge" - one of the biggest seizures ever made by customs officers.

He said it was too early to say what would happen to the British men, adding only that the judicial process in Ghana was now being followed.

It is understood one of the British men was based in Spain and was a regular visitor to Ghana. Two other men were based in Ghana and the other was resident in Wales. The raid came after customs officers received intelligence last month that the principal members of the gang had imported the cocaine into Ghana and had travelled there to arrange for it to be shipped to Europe and then to the UK, authorities said.

The drugs were found in what was described as a "specially constructed concealment within the house". This latest operation follows the seizure in the Azores last month by the British, Antiguan, Spanish and Portuguese authorities of £40m worth of cocaine.

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Healey, who has responsibility for Customs, said: "A sophisticated, international gang has been dismantled and a large shipment of cocaine has been prevented from causing harm on our streets."