The seizure of nearly four tonnes of cocaine, with a street value of more than £300m, is the UK’s biggest cocaine bust since 2015, the home secretary has said.

More than 3.7 tonnes of cocaine hydrochloride, hidden in boxes of bananas in a container of 20 pallets of the fruit, were seized by the UK Border Force at Southampton Docks on 17 March.

The container had recently arrived from Columbia before being inspected by the force and the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Wrapped packages of white powder were discovered within five of the pallets, which tested positive for cocaine hydrochloride, which is used to make crack cocaine.

Home Secretary Priti Patel described the haul, worth around £302m, as “the largest seizure of cocaine in the UK since 2015”.

It should, she said, “serve as a warning to anyone trying to smuggle illegal drugs into the country that we are out to get them”.

A key focus of the government’s Beating Crime Plan is to “disrupt the supply chain and relentless pursuit of the criminals peddling narcotics, making the drugs market a low-reward, high risk, enterprise,” Ms Patel added.

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“The police and Border Force have my 100% backing to use all available powers to stop devastating drugs from coming into our neighbourhoods and destroying lives,” she said.

Peter Stevens, NCA regional head of investigations, said: “This was a monumental seizure of cocaine with a street value of around £300m.

“The organised crime group behind this importation has been denied massive profits which it would have ploughed back into more offending.

“There’s no doubt some of this cocaine would have been cut up and sold across UK streets, feeding crime and misery in our communities.”

But, despite the optimism, drug policy groups are sceptical about the true impact of large seizures.

Steve Rolles, Senior Policy Analyst at Transform Drugs Policy, dismissed the home secretary’s words and said although impressive sounding, the large seizures are “clearly not working to deter criminals”.

“Cocaine deaths are up 40-fold since the 1990s. Every year it is becoming cheaper, purer and more available. And more and more young people are being groomed and exploited in county lines,” he said.

County lines is the name given to urban drugs suppliers who move out to rural areas, often grooming and exploiting children to sell the product.

The UK’s cocaine market is estimated to be worth more than £25.7m daily in England, Scotland and Wales, according to the NCA’s latest strategic threat assessment.

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