FOLLOWING drugs arrests made in Yarmouth overnight, police are yet to confirm whether they are linked to a massive National Crime Agency operation in which cocaine packages were recently washed up on Isle of Wight beaches.

Last night (Saturday), three men were rescued by Yarmouth RNLI in their boat, Yvonne T, 12 miles south of The Needles, then subsequently arrested on class A drugs possession and supply charges.

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Isle of Wight County Press: Police cordoned off the Yvonne T in Yarmouth so as to give it a thorough search.Police cordoned off the Yvonne T in Yarmouth so as to give it a thorough search. (Image: Paul Blackley)

Specialist police officers from Hampshire were seen at Yarmouth Harbour this morning (Sunday) going over the cordoned off Yvonne T with a fine tooth comb.

One eyewitness said they were on their hands and knees, looking inch by inch around every part of the vessel, which included piercing lifebuoys on board it. 

Border Force officers were also in Yarmouth as part of the investigation.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary were asked if the arrests are part of the National Crime Agency's investigations into cocaine packages being washed up, on parts of the Isle of Wight and elsewhere in the Solent region — and what were the three men doing so far south of the Island.

Isle of Wight County Press:

In a short statement, they told the County Press: "We are currently investigating to establish the full circumstances — and whether there are any links to any other investigations."

The National Crime Agency have already said the drugs already discovered washed up on beaches and found at sea were most likely transported from South America onto a merchant ship.

"Law enforcement remain vigilant to the possibility that further packages could be recovered", a spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Packages were discovered on Island beaches last weekend and, on October 2, a fisherman found sports bags containing hundreds of kilos of powder off the Dorset coast.