A man from Clacton is among those charged following an investigation into drug trafficking.

East Anglian Daily Times: Drugs recovered by the National Crime Agency during its investigation Picture: NATIONAL CRIME AGENCYDrugs recovered by the National Crime Agency during its investigation Picture: NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY (Image: Archant)

Mark Youell, 63 of Shoreham Road, Clacton was one of the three men charged following an investigation by the National Crime Agency into a transport firm that was allegedly involved in drug trafficking.

Also charged were Alfred Rumbold from Orpington, Kent and Brian Wight from Folkestone in Kent.

The men were charged in the UK and the Netherlands with over 50kg of class A drugs being seized by the NCA and Dutch law enforcement.

All three were arrest on July 29; Wright was detained by Dutch police as he slept in his removals lorry north of Utrecht.

The drugs – 30 kilos of heroin, 20 kilos of cocaine and three kilos of MDMA - were recovered from the rear of the truck.

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

Shortly afterwards NCA officers moved in to arrest Youell and Rumbold at their homes.

Officers searching Wright’s home recovered a hand gun, 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 seen hundreds of people arrested in the UK following the infiltration of the 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.”