POLICE have arrested two Bournemouth men as part of an investigation into a huge drugs haul found aboard a private jet.

A 34-year-old man from the town is currently in police custody after he was arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers at South Coast Ink in the Triangle on Wednesday.

The owner of the tattoo studio said the arrested man has no connection to the business and is not employed there.

A second man, who is 36 and a Spanish national, was extradited from Thailand to the UK. He has been charged in connection with the incident.

It comes months after four men were jailed for a total of 92 years for their part in bringing half a tonne of cocaine from Bogota, Colombia on a jet. The class A drug, worth some £41m, was found stashed in suitcases after the plane landed at Farnborough Airport.

Each of the men convicted of smuggling the drugs to the UK held down a normal job before getting embroiled in the conspiracy.

Martin James Neil, 49 and of Bournemouth Road, Poole, worked as a bricklayer. Italian national Alessandro Iembo, 28 and of Richmond Chambers, Bournemouth, held down a job at the Mary Shelley pub in Hinton Road. He also worked for the Bournemouth Pizza Company.

Victor Franco-Lorenzo, 40 and of Suffolk Road, Bournemouth, was born in Spain. He worked in hospitality in Bournemouth.

Each was sentenced to 24 years in prison after being convicted of fraudulent evasion of a prohibition in relation to a class A drug.

Jose Ramon Miguelez-Botas, 56, a hairdresser from Valladolid in Spain, was sentenced to 20 years behind bars for the same offence.

A spokesperson from the NCA said the Spanish man has been charged with importing a controlled drug. He is due to appear at Woolwich Crown Court next month.

“A 34-year-old man was detained by NCA officers in Bournemouth town centre on Wednesday. He is now being questioned,” she said.

“A 36-year-old Spanish national who had been living in Bournemouth has been charged."