Some 200 kilos of ketamine with an estimated street value of £1.4 million have been recovered from a fishing boat which had sailed from Amsterdam to the  English coast, Britain’s national crime agency NCA said on Thursday.

NCA investigators worked closely with Dutch partners to monitor the boat, named MFV Girl Carole, as it left the Dutch capital for Suffolk.  Police moved in as the boat was being unloaded and arrested five people last Saturday morning.

“The discovery of these drugs is the result of a painstaking and long running investigation into the trafficking of drugs through international waters into the UK,” NCA branch commander Ty Surgeon said in a press statement.

“It is another fantastic example of the NCA working with partners, including the Dutch police and prosecutor’s office, to tackle the upstream overseas drugs trade and stop the importation of a huge amount of ketamine we believe was destined for the streets of the UK,” he said.