A woman has been charged with importing a shipment of £22 million of drugs into the UK from Mexico inside an industrial fruit processing machine, officials say.
Olivia Anton-Altamirano allegedly smuggled 250kg of cocaine and 9kg of crystal meth hidden inside the specially constructed machine, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
The 32-year-old Spanish national was arrested at her home in Blackheath, south-east London, according to the agency.
The drugs were said to have been trafficked into London Gateway Port in Essex on March 17, where the fruit processor was stopped by Border Force officers.
It took officers several hours to break into the 3.5-tonne machinery before they eventually found the haul, the NCA said.
In a statement this morning, the agency said: "The haul included 250kg of cocaine and 9kg of methamphetamine (crystal meth) worth an estimated combined street value of £22 million."
It added that Anton-Altamirano had been arrested by officers from the joint NCA and Metropolitan Police Organised Crime Partnership (OCP).
John Coles, the NCA's head of specialist operations, said: "Here we have a potentially lucrative plot by organised criminals to smuggle 259kg of Class A drugs into the UK, which would have eventually found itself being sold on the streets of London."
On May 4, OCP officers conducted a controlled delivery of the now-empty machinery to a storage facility in Wood Green, north London, according to the agency.
The announcement of the seizure came after security minister Ben Wallace warned the UK is "fast becoming the biggest consumer of cocaine in Europe".
And Simon Kempton, the Police Federation's deputy treasurer, blamed demand for the drug on middle-class users, the Guardian reported.
Anton-Altamirano, of Charlton Road, will appear at Kingston Crown Court to enter a plea on June 7.