The Border Force battle against drugs at sea

With an increase in maritime drugs seizures, the BBC has been given rare access to one of the Border Force's patrol boats.

The cutter units patrol UK waters looking for anything out of the ordinary.

I join the Valiant as it sails in the North Sea off the East Yorkshire coast.

Andy Vidamour, head of operations for Border Force Maritime Command, says smugglers are using increasingly sophisticated methods, including dropping packages from large ships to be picked up and brought to shore by smaller vessels.

"Last year we intercepted six separate operations of that nature, where a vessel had gone to sea to collect drugs directly from a vessel up from South America," Mr Vidamour says.

"It's absolutely something we are seeing more and more and we are being more active in detecting and seizing."

One of the UK's biggest ever drugs shipments was intercepted in May 2024 when a dinghy carrying half a tonne of cocaine with a street value of £42m was seized after it landed at Easington.

Last year, 29 tonnes of cocaine was seized by officers across the UK, with 75% of that coming in by sea.

My journey begins on a calm, sunny day at Grimsby Docks.

It is surprising how spacious the craft feels with a kitchen, rest room, bunks and showering facilities.

On deck looking out, I can see a number of boats all navigating their way around the busy motorway of the Humber Estuary.

Valiant is one of six vessels in the Border Force fleet.

Crews work two weeks on, two weeks off and could be out for up to three days patrolling anywhere in UK waters.

The patrol boats are equipped with smaller inflatable craft, known as ribs, which can be launched off the back and are used to intercept criminals in smaller boats and retrieve packages dropped in the water.

The real challenge for officers is to have the information to put their boats in the right places at the right time, Border Force say.

"We absolutely rely on information predominantly from the public," Mr Vidamour tells me.

"We ask for anything that stands out. For us that would be something like vessels coming and going from port at strange times at night, people unequipped for the journey that they're conducting, poor seamanship in a marina, which might indicate that someone is a first time mariner."

Anyone with information about suspicious activity is asked to contact Border Force or Crimestoppers.

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