British police raid drugs ship

British police have been involved in a raid on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean in which nearly two tons of cocaine destined for sale in Europe was seized.

The Spanish Interior Ministry said Spanish, Portuguese and British police boarded the ship and arrested nine people.

Specialist agents, including members of Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency, conducted a dawn raid on March 15 while the ship was in the Atlantic Ocean, some 700 miles south-west of Portugal's Cape Verde islands.

Four Brazilians and one Korean crewman aboard were arrested and four alleged organisers - including the suspected Venezuelan mastermind - were rounded up the next day in the northern Portuguese city of Porto.

Cocaine bales hidden in a bow locker and a backpack with a large amount in US dollars were seized.

The gang included a large group of Venezuela-based cocaine suppliers, a ministry statement said.