CUSTOMS and Excise officers have been praised after a £2million drugs haul was discovered at Harwich Port.They discovered ecstasy, amphetamines and cannabis following the arrival of a ferry from Holland.

CUSTOMS and Excise officers have been praised after a £2million drugs haul was discovered at Harwich Port.

They discovered ecstasy, amphetamines and cannabis following the arrival of a ferry from Holland.

Officers acting on intelligence information boarded the Stena Hollandica and searched a lorry in the early hours.

A total of 103 kilos of amphetamines, 26 kilos of ecstasy and 49 kilos of cannabis were discovered.

A spokesman for HM Customs and Excise said the total number of ecstasy tablets in the haul was about 100,000.

Following the seizure last Thursday a man was interviewed and charged with attempting to smuggle drugs into the UK. He appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates Court on Saturday and was remanded in custody until April 25.

Last night, Harwich MP Ivan Henderson said: "Every time the vigilance of our local customs officers produces a seizure of this nature it prevents misery on the streets in other parts of the country.

"We should all be very thankful for the wonderful work being done by Customs and Excise. This is a major success for them."

The haul followed the arrests of two women in two days at the port last week.

Following the discovery of a kilo of heroin with a street value of £68,000, a Dutch woman was charged with attempting to import the Class A drug into the UK.

The unemployed woman, from Amsterdam, was arrested following the arrival of the evening ferry from the Hook of Holland on April 14.

The following day another Dutch resident was arrested after customs officers discovered a similar amount of heroin.

She was charged with attempting to import heroin into the UK, and was remanded in custody for eight days by Colchester magistrates, to reappear on Thursday.