Four men have been arrested after half a tonne of cocaine worth £40m was found in a van in the car park of a village pub.

The National Crime Agency said the drugs are believed to have been brought to shore in a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) after being transferred from a larger vessel off the Hull coast.

Officers found the RHIB abandoned at Easington Beach, around 18 miles from the Stags Head Inn in Lelley, East Yorkshire, where around 500kg of cocaine was discovered in the back of a Vauxhall Vivaro in the pub’s car park.

The NCA said the drugs have a potential street value of £40m and would have been sold around the UK.

A 22-year-old from Argyll, a 32-year-old from Oban and a 24-year-old from Campbeltown, all in Scotland, were arrested at 8.30am on Saturday in Lelley, as well as a 39-year-old from Colombia.

Senior investigating officer Alan French said: “This was a significant amount of cocaine and its seizure will be a sizeable blow to the organised crime group which attempted to smuggle it into the UK.

“There’s no doubt these drugs would have been sold into communities around the UK, fuelling further crime and exploitation.

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“Working with our law enforcement partners we are determined to do all we can to disrupt criminal activity, and protect the UK’s border security.

“Our investigation continues following these arrests.”

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The NCA operation was supported by Humberside Police, Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit and Border Force.

In February, a shipment of £450m worth of cocaine was found at Southampton Port in a container carrying bananas in the largest-ever seizure of Class A drugs in the UK.

The 5.7 tonnes eclipsed the previous record of 3.7 tonnes discovered at the same port in 2022 and 3.2 tonnes found on board the tugboat MV Hamal in Scotland in 2015.

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