Four charged over £32m cocaine haul

The plane had come from the Caribbean

Four men have been charged with drug smuggling offences following one of the largest seizures of cocaine in Britain.

They were arrested after the 500kg of the drug, estimated to be worth £32m, was recovered at Southend Airport in Essex on Tuesday evening.

A Customs spokesman said another man had been released and a sixth man was still being questioned.

The men were arrested shortly after a Boeing 707 plane arrived from Jamaica, via Gran Canaria, and were taken to a London police station to be interviewed.

Three of the men charged are British. They are Christopher Barrett-Jolly, 54, from Wellington, Somerset, Peter Carine, 49, from Hensall, North Yorkshire and Martin John Lake, 60, from Storrington, West Sussex.

Undercover

The fourth man charged is Nigerian, David Ogundipe, 45, from Lagos.

The four men are due to appear before Southend magistrates later on Monday, the Customs spokesman said.

All have been charged with smuggling cocaine into the UK under the Customs and Excise Management Act.

The man still being questioned in connection with the seizure is Serb.

The seizure was the culmination of a lengthy undercover investigation by Customs agents.