£42m cocaine haul found at Coca-Cola plant

A Coca-Cola plant in France is under investigation after cocaine with a street value of £42m was found hidden in a container that had arrived from South America.

370kg of the drug was seized at the plant in Signes in the south of the country, which makes it one of the largest drug finds in France.

Employees of the company are being ruled out of having any involvement in the operation, according to regional president Jean-Denis Malgras.

"The first elements of the investigation have shown that employees are in no way involved," he said.

Just last year 250kg of cocaine was found on a yacht travelling between France and the United Kingdom, which led to the arrest of two men.

Xavier Tarabeux, prosecutor in the investigation, said that the find "has the street value of 50m euros" and said it had been a "very bad surprise."