Police step up drugs gang hunt

Officers are trying to find out who left the drugs

Police are following a new lead in the hunt for drug smugglers who left millions of pounds of cocaine in north Devon.

More than 200 kilograms of the drug with an estimated street value of £14m were found in the Torridge Estuary between Bideford and Appledore two weeks ago.

Police have been trying to find out who left the drugs and who was supposed to have picked them up.

Officers are now looking to trace any groups of men who were renting accommodation in the area in the weeks beforehand.

Inaccessible area

The drugs were in army-type rucksacks, coloured black, blue, green and camouflaged, in an area which is not accessible by a vehicle.

Anyone going there would have had to travel by boat, or walked along an estuary footpath.

After a tip off from someone who came across the bags, police picked them up on Monday, 9 May.

A joint investigation was started by officers from Customs and Excise and Devon and Cornwall Police.

Now the special inquiry team is asking for information from anyone who knows of a group or groups of men renting a cottage or other accommodation in the area during the weeks before the find.