Border Force finds 12 tonnes of cannabis in two containers at Southampton
Border Force officers found about 12 tonnes of cannabis in 1,200 boxes in two shipping containers from Canada at Southampton Port on 6 May 2026, the agency's largest cannabis seizure. Police in south Wales arrested three people on 16 June over the importation.
🇬🇧 Southampton Port, Southampton, Hampshire · United Kingdom
·
Arrested
3
Cannabis
12 t
Value (official estimate)
GBP 139,000,000
Border Force officers found about 12 tonnes of cannabis in two shipping
containers at Southampton Port on 6 May 2026.[1][2]The cannabis came from
Canada, packed in 1,200 boxes.[1][2]The agency called it its largest cannabis
seizure; the previous record was just under 8 tonnes (7,955 kg), also at
Southampton, in April 2017.[1]
The Home Office put the revenue the load would have generated for organised
crime at about £139 million.[1][2]
Home Office intelligence analysts identified the containers before they
arrived, working with Canadian partners and UK police.[1]The Canada Border
Services Agency had stopped an earlier container of cannabis bound for the UK in
April.[1]
On 16 June, officers from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit arrested
three people — two men and one woman in their 30s and 40s, from Merthyr Tydfil,
Ebbw Vale and Abertillery in south Wales — on suspicion of facilitating the
importations.[1][2]They were held in police custody.[1][2]
Photos and video
Cardboard boxes packed with cannabis inside one of the shipping containers at Southampton Port. Photo: Home Office. Source: GOV.UK (Home Office) · archived copyA composite image showing pallets of cardboard boxes outside the containers and bags of cannabis recovered from them. Photo: South West Regional Organised Crime Unit. Source: BBC News · archived copyWrapped packages of cannabis laid out on the ground beside a cardboard box. Photo: South West Regional Organised Crime Unit. Source: BBC News · archived copy
Gwent Police Special officers seized a quantity of cannabis during a stop search in Newport city centre. The search was carried out under Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act during proactive patrols.
Greater Manchester Police seized about two tonnes of cannabis worth around £24 million at Leigh Tenement Farm in Blackrod on 9 January 2026, one of the largest UK seizures on record. Two Bolton men were charged with conspiracy to supply cannabis and remanded in custody.
Police found just under 2,000 cannabis plants worth an estimated £3.2 million in a warehouse on Gateside Industrial Estate, Cowdenbeath, on 8 May 2025. A 70-year-old man was arrested and released pending enquiries, with a later report saying three men were reported to the procurator fiscal.
Border Force and the National Crime Agency seized 26,924 kg of cannabis from about 750 couriers flying into UK airports in 2024, nearly five times the 2023 total. Most couriers arrived from Thailand, Canada and the United States, recruited by organised crime groups exploiting legally grown foreign cannabis.
