COCAINE worth an estimated #6m was found hidden in a trailer belonging
to a leading motor racing team, it was disclosed yesterday.
Customs investigators believe that the find has exposed a drug supply
route using the ''glamorous world of motor racing'' as a cover.
The trailer was transporting a BMW racing saloon owned by Vic Lee
Motorsport, of Northfleet, Kent -- holders of the British Touring Car
Championship title.
Ten people were being questioned by Customs officers last night.
Officers who intercepted the vehicle at the Olau Line ferry terminal
at Sheerness, Kent, discovered it contained 40kg of cocaine.
A Customs statement said: ''Customs investigators believe that they
have stopped a major drug supply route using the glamorous world of
motor racing.''
The drugs seizure came after a surveillance operation lasting several
months and code-named Operation Bounce.
Customs officers closed in when the trailer completed a return journey
from Flushing in Holland to Sheerness last Thursday.
The drugs were removed, fake cocaine put in its place, and the trailer
allowed to go on its way.
No arrests were made at the ferry port but officers visited a number
of addresses in the Kent area yesterday.
A Customs spokesman said: ''It is a large consignment of cocaine.
Forty kilos is a considerable amount.''
Investigators will now try to find out if the motor racing connection
has been used before.
It was understood that the team had taken the car to Holland.
The Vic Lee team won the 1991 British Touring Car Championship with
driver Will Hoy, who left the team for Toyota after its main sponsor,
Securicor, switched to the Japanese company.
A woman who answered the phone at the racing team's headquarters in
Northfleet said there might be a statement from the group later, but
would make no other comment.
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