Four men have been arrested after a “significant” haul of drugs was seized from a fishing boat off the Kent coast.

Border Force officers said they intercepted the vessel at sea on Sunday morning and discovered 400kg of cocaine.

Three men on board, aged 64, 45 and 25, were arrested on suspicion of importing Class A drugs and taken into police custody for questioning by National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators.

A fourth man, aged 36, was arrested in Rainham, east London, the NCA said.

The NCA’s director of operations, Jules Harriman, said: “This amount of cocaine will represent a significant loss to the organized crime group that attempted to import it into the UK.

“With our partners at the Border Force and the Joint Maritime Security Center (JMSC), we have successfully removed this batch of harmful drugs from the criminal market.

“Our investigation into this import continues.”

Danny Hewitt, director of Border Force Operations Headquarters, said it was a “significant seizure”, adding that the Border Force and the NCA were working together “to prevent these toxic drugs from reaching our streets in the first place”.

“We continue to work tirelessly to protect our borders and keep the public safe,” he said.