Border Force has intercepted a record-breaking 12-tonne cannabis shipment at Southampton Port, depriving organised crime groups of an estimated £139 million in potential revenue.
Officers discovered around 1,200 boxes of cannabis crammed inside two containers last month, making it the largest cannabis seizure the agency has ever undertaken. The previous record — just under eight tonnes (7,955 kilograms) — was also made at Southampton, in April 2017.
Home Office intelligence analysts, working with Canadian partners and UK law enforcement, identified the containers before they reached the port, allowing Border Force officers to move in for the interception on 6 May 2026.
International operation targets import networks
The seizure formed part of a wider investigation by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) into gangs involved in drug importation. It followed action by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), which prevented a separate container of cannabis destined for the UK from leaving Canada in April.
On 16 June 2026, SWROCU arrested three people on suspicion of facilitating importations linked to the investigation.
SWROCU Acting Inspector Stuart Cumine said: "Operations like this, working with partners on a national and international level, disrupt criminal networks, deprive them of funds, and protect communities across the UK from the harm that drug supply and other organised criminality causes."
Canada Border Services Agency President Erin O'Gorman said the operation reflected "the strength of the combined operational focus and intelligence-sharing efforts between Canadian federal law enforcement and our UK Border Force partners."
Ministers hail record haul
Migration and Citizenship Minister Mike Tapp congratulated Border Force officers on what he called a "record-breaking haul", adding: "We will not allow criminal gangs to profit from misery and peddle their vile trade."
"More than ever before, we are working with policing and international partners to secure our borders and keep our streets safe," Tapp said.
Border Force Director General Phil Douglas said the interception showed the agency's "relentless action to stop drugs reaching UK streets and destroying lives", thanking officers, SWROCU and the CBSA for their collaboration.
Seizures hit new highs
May's interception builds on a record year for Border Force drug seizures. Latest statistics show almost 148 tonnes of illegal drugs were seized in the year ending March 2025 — the highest figure since records began and a 40% year-on-year increase in quantity.
The scale of the Southampton haul underscores both the volume of illicit cannabis still entering the UK despite legal medical imports, and the continued role of Canadian supply chains in fuelling the black market — a tension that sits alongside Britain's fast-growing regulated medical cannabis sector.
