Four charged over £12m English Channel cannabis haul

HMC Searcher is one of five fast-patrol vessels used by the UK Border Agency

Four men have been charged after cannabis with a street value of about £12m was seized in the English Channel.

The UK Border Agency's (UKBA) fast-patrol vessels intercepted a Dutch-registered yacht off the Sussex coast on Sunday.
The four men, two from the Netherlands, have been remanded in custody by Brighton magistrates until Monday.
The yacht was escorted into Newhaven Harbour and UKBA officers found about four tonnes of cannabis.
The four charged are: Al John Turner, 54, of Hargham Heath, Attleborough, Norfolk; Mark Nicholas Timothy, 59, of Sandown Close, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex; Johna Sijbolt Bouma, 64, from Amsterdam and Franciscus Hubertus De Geus, 66, also from Amsterdam.