A MAN living in a seaside town has been charged after more than £3million worth of heroin, cocaine, and MDMA was found in the back of a lorry.

Mark Youell, 63, from Clacton, was arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency, on July 29, following an investigation into a transport firm's believed drug trafficking.

The large operation, for which the NCA worked alongside law enforcement in the Netherlands, resulted in the seizure of more than 50 kilos of Class A drugs.

The shocking discovery came after Dutch police officers detained a man named Brian Wright, 72, from Folkestone, Kent, as he slept in his removals lorry north of Utrecht. 

Thurrock Gazette:

The hefty haul, consisting of 30 kilos of heroin, 20 kilos of cocaine, and three kilos of MDMA, was then found in the back of the truck.

If sold in the UK, the drugs would have had a potential street value of a whopping £3.2million.

Shortly after Wright's arrest, another man, Alfred Rumbold, 64, was detained at his home in Orpington, in Kent, before Mark Youell, was arrested at his home in Clacton.

Officers searching Wright’s home also recovered a handgun, ammunition and £10,000 in cash.

All three men have since been charged on suspicion of importing Class A drugs.

The investigation forms part of Operation Venetic, which has resulted in hundreds of UK arrests after the infiltration of encrypted communications platform, Encrochat.

NCA branch commander, Peter Stevens, said: “This operation has prevented millions of pounds of dangerous Class A drugs from reaching the UK, where they would have been sold on by gangs involved in violence and exploitation.

“It demonstrates the value of international co-operation in combatting organised crime.

“Our investigation into the circumstances surrounding this seizure, and those suspected of being behind it, continues.”