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The seizure, which had a potential street value of around £8.5 million took place last Thursday (Picture: Home Office)

Heroin worth £8.5 million stashed in fruit and nut boxes at Heathrow Airport

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Heroin worth more than £8.5million has been found stashed in boxes of fruit and nuts at Heathrow Airport.

Border Force officers found 170kg hidden in envelopes that were concealed in the walls of a consignment of 630 boxes on May 21.

Two men, aged 36 and 51, were arrested near Bradford on suspicion of importing class A drugs the following day, and a third was held in Birmingham on May 23.

They have all been released under investigation.

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The drugs were found in a freight consignment consisting of 630 commercial boxes of fruit and nuts and were hidden in envelopes concealed in the outer cardboard box walls (Picture: Home Office)
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Each outer box contained approximately 270 grams of heroin (Picture: Home Office)

Minister for Immigration Compliance and the Court Chris Philp said: ‘This substantial seizure was the largest class A drugs detection so far this year by Border Force at Heathrow.

‘Illegal drugs fuel crime, violence and exploitation which is why our work to prevent them reaching our communities is so vital.’

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