3 arrested in U.K. after nearly $100 million worth of cocaine found hidden in bananas

Three people have been charged in the United Kingdom,after they allegedly attempted to traffic nearly $100 million worth of cocaine in a container of bananas, authorities said, marking the latest instance of the illicit drug being concealed in a shipment of the tropical fruit.

Joshua Berry, 28, Daniel Dumitru, 37, and Andrew Smyth, 46, were all arrested in Southhampton, England, where they are next scheduled to appear in court on April 17, according to the country's National Crime Agency. 

Berry was the last of the three to face charges in the case and appeared at his first court hearing on Friday, the agency said. Dumitru and Smyth were each taken into custody and charged almost two weeks ago.

Their arrests are part of the crime agency's investigation into an enormous cocaine haul that was seized at Southhampton Docks earlier this month. Officers with the border agency discovered more than 2,000 pounds — approximately 1 ton — of cocaine inside a shipping container filled with bananas that arrived at the Southhampton port from Panama, although authorities said it originally set sail from Nicaragua. The drugs carried a street value equal to about 75 million British pounds, or roughly $98.9 million.

The three men who have been charged could face maximum penalties of life in prison if they are convicted, according to U.K. sentencing guidelines.

"This is a massive amount of cocaine which was destined for the streets of the UK," said Saju Sasikumar, a National Crime Agency branch commander, in a statement. "Seizing these drugs deprives the crime group behind the importation of huge profits that cannot be ploughed back into further offending."

The choice to hide cocaine inside a shipment of bananas is not an unusual one. Authorities around the world have said in recent months that the substance had been seized from shipments of the fruit, including in Russia, Norway, the Dominican Republic, Greece and Bulgaria, in addition to the U.K. 

In February 2024, British authorities said they discovered more than 12,500 pounds of cocaine inside a shipment of bananas, which was also seized at Southhampton Docks. At the time, that was the country's largest single seizure of hard drugs on record.