Posted by Eric HaunJuly 14, 2016

(Photo: NCA)

The captain and first officer of an ocean going tug boat have been found guilty of drug trafficking following the biggest ever U.K. seizure of class A drugs, the country’s National Crime Agency (NCA) announced.

The cocaine, worth an estimated potential street value of £512 million once adulterated, was found hidden aboard the Tanzanian flagged MV Hamal in April 2015.

The vessel had been intercepted by the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Somerset and Border Force cutter HMC Valiant in the North Sea approximately 100 miles off the coast of Aberdeenshire.

Mumin Sahin (Photo: NCA)

Emin Ozmen (Photo: NCA)

After the vessel arrived in port on Friday, April 24 the cutter crew and specialist Border Force deep rumm

They were acting on intelligence supplied by the NCA, working in cooperation with the French customs investigation service DNRED and the U.K.’s National Maritime Information Centre.

NCA officers were deployed on HMS Somerset as the MV Hamal was boarded and escorted into the Port of Aberdeen.

teams commenced a search, alongside NCA and Scottish Police Authority forensic teams.

Ballast tanks on the Hamal were pumped out so that search crews could gain access. As they began to drill through a metal panel inside one of the tanks, a white powder was seen on the drill bit. It tested positive for cocaine.

HMS Somerset