£40 million of heroin found hidden among towels in UK-bound shipping container

An enormous haul of heroin has been found hidden in bath towels as it arrived at one of Britain's busiest ports.

Police said the £40 million seizure is one of the largest found in the UK.

Several people suspects have been arrested after the discovery in a shipping container.

Officers worked in collaboration with authorities in the Netherlands and Belgium to track the shipment as it made its way to the UK, via Antwerp.

It is thought the container was first loaded on to a ship in Oman, stopping at various locations before it was unloaded at Felixstowe on August 1.

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The following day, officers from the National Crime Agency made the discovery.

Police then started a ploy to catch those behind the shipment, loading it back on to a container ship for it to be unloaded at a later date.

Officers in the Netherlands arrested two suspects in Rotterdam as they attempted to unload the contents.

At the same time, police in Bromsgrove in Worcestershire arrested a man, he remains in custody.

Colin Williams of the National Crime Agency said: "It is almost certain that some of these drugs would have been sold in the UK, fuelling violence and exploitation including what we see in county lines offending nationwide."