Third man charged over cocaine in banana shipment

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.

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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