MORE than half-a-million pounds worth of drugs consealed in a cargo of fruit and vegetables has been seized by Customs. Officers from one of Customs' specialist freight teams found about ten kilos of cocaine and ten kilos of herbal cannabis in a cargo warehouse in Southall, near Heathrow Airport.

Kerrie Spendiff, deputy head of Customs operations at Heathrow Airport, said: "This is another excellent result from our freight teams at the airport and comes about two weeks after our last large seizure. Customs officers have prevented a significant quantity of cocaine from reaching the streets of London. This seizure underlines our commitment to reduce the availability of Class A drugs in the UK."

Officers went to a cargo warehouse in Southall last Thursday where they examined a consignment of 159 boxes of fresh vegetables and pineapples which had recently arrived from Accra in Ghana and were en route to an address in London. During their search they found the drugs, which have an estimated street value of ?558,000, hidden in the pallets on which the goods were being transported. Two weeks earlier Customs officers at Heathrow seized another consignment of drugs worth almost ?1 million after discovering it in boxes of fresh chilli peppers from Ghana.

No arrests have been made. for either consignment.