DRUGS seized on a boat in Southampton could be worth up to £30m, a court heard.

The amazing figure emerged as nine men appeared before Southampton magistrates facing charges of smuggling cannabis into the UK.

It comes after a raid on the River Itchen by officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).

The court heard that the amount of cannabis resin discovered on the vessel Abbira was "in excess of five tonnes"

and had "an estimated street value of £20m to £30m".

Joanne Jakymec, prosecuting on behalf of HM Revenue & Customs, told the court the boat had arrived in Southampton on April 3.

SOCA officers carried out the raid after working with police in Hampshire and Leicestershire, HM Revenue & Customs and overseas law enforcement agencies.

The seizure is thought to be one of the largest of its kind in the UK.

The prosecutor could not confirm whether the amount seized in Southampton on Thursday was the biggest yet but said "it was a very significant amount".

Interpreters were used in the court as none of the accused - three Israeli men, four Serbian men and two Ukrainian men - can speak English.

The Israelis, Moshe Kedar, 80, Yehezkel Srebro, 56, Mordechai Hersh, 66, and Serbian Goram Otovic, 52, all gave no indication of pleas to the charges.

Ukrainians Yaroslav Ksenovets, 34, and Sergiy Khodos, 25, also gave no indication of pleas.

Three other Serbian men, Dragan Stankovic, 53, Dusan Mileusnic, 58, and Negovan Jovanovic, 57, all pleaded not guilty.

All defendants were remanded in custody as they had no address in the UK.

Those who gave no indications of plea are due to appear before the court via a video link before all return to face magistrates again for committal proceedings on May 22.

Another four men were arrested in Leicester and three, all UK nationals, have also been charged in connection with the drugs bust.