Customs and Excise officers swooped on South Mimms Services last week to seize cocaine with an estimated street value of £12million.
The raid on a Spanish registered lorry, which arrived in the UK via Portsmouth, took place at around 7pm last week when armed officers seized 180kg of cocaine.
The consignment of the drug is believed to have been shipped from the Spanish port of Bilbao and customs investigators carefully monitored the lorry before arresting six suspects.
An employee at the service station said: "I went outside for my break and suddenly this lorry was surrounded by armed officers.
"It looked very dramatic, like something out of a film. They took six men out of the lorry and handcuffed them."
The men arrested included five Spanish nationals and an English man from east London. All were charged under Section 170 (2) of the Customs and Excise Management Act and appeared at Staines Magistrates Court last Friday.
All six were remanded in custody until October 25, when they will reappear at Staines Magistrates Court.
The drugs seizure follows another cocaine haul at Southend Airport, Essex, last week when £32million of the drug were seized from a cargo flight last Tuesday night.
Minister for customs and excise, Paul Boateng, said of the joint operation: "This has been a remarkable 24 hours for customs investigators.
"They have prevented 680kg of cocaine reaching the streets of Britain. This is a great example of the Government's commitment and contribution to reducing the availability of Class A drugs in the UK."
October 24, 2001 11:48
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