£2 million of cocaine seized after Bridgnorth undercover operation
Cocaine worth up to £2 million has been seized after police witnessed a suspected drugs handover in Bridgnorth.
The National Crime Agency operation prevented a significant quantity of Class A Drugs getting onto the streets say police.
Three men have appeared in court charged with drug supply offences, after officers witnessed what they suspected to be a handover of drugs outside an industrial unit in Bridgnorth on September 14.
A short time later, as part of the police operation, a white Mercedes van was stopped on the A5 at Gailey just before junction 12 of the M6.
Officers from the Central Motorway Police Group, who were working with the NCA found a bag containing 25 kilo blocks of cocaine in the rear of the van.
National Crime Agency experts believe the cocaine could have had a potential street value of up to £2 million.
The occupants of the van, Andrew Worby, 43, and Onasis Depass, 31, both from Shipley, West Yorkshire, were arrested.
That same day Tayyab Iqbal, 31, was arrested at his home in Coventry Road, Birmingham.
All three men were later charged with conspiring to supply class A drugs. Iqbal appeared before Walsall magistrates on September 15 and was remanded in custody until his next court appearance on October 14 at Birmingham Crown Court.
Worby and Depass appeared before Newcastle-under-Lyme magistrates and were remanded to appear at Stoke Crown Court on October 17.
National Crime Agency branch commander Mick Pope said: “This operation has prevented a significant quantity of class A drugs from making it onto our streets, where they would have been sold to fund further criminality.
“Working with our law enforcement partners we are determined to do all we can to target the organised criminal networks involved in drug supply, and I’m grateful for the support of our policing colleagues in this case.”
