Three men have been arrested in connection with the seizure of heroin with a street value of £40 million. It is thought to be the biggest ever haul of heroin by police in the UK.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police Specialist Crime Central Task Force had been carrying out surveillance on a suspect for several weeks when he drove down the M20 towards the coast.

They watched as he drove a Seat Leon vehicle into a service station at junction 8 and drove around before pulling up near to a BMW estate.

Both drivers got out and shook hands. The driver of the BMW, which had Dutch number plates, transferred three boxes into the Seat Leon.

As he did so around a dozen officers in several cars swooped and blocked off their escape as they poured out of their vehicles and arrested both men.

Officers found a further ten boxes of heroin in the BMW, weighing 356 kilos, which is estimated to have a street value of at least £40 million.

Soon after police raided a house in Ilford, East London, and arrested a third man. They also found a large amount of cutting agent, scales, a metal press for re-pressing after cutting. Other drugs paraphernalia was found.

All three prisoners are in custody at a south London Police Station.

Another address in East London was raided this afternoon and more drug paraphernalia was found.

It is believed that the drugs had been brought in from Holland and were destined for the streets of London and the Home Counties.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Beyer of the Met's Specialist Crime Central Task Force said: “This is one of the largest ever seizures of heroin by police in the UK.

“We have severely disrupted a highly organised criminal network engaged in the wide scale importation and distribution of class A drugs.

“This has been achieved through good detective work by my operational team and is another excellent result for the Met's Central Task Force.

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