TWO brothers have been charged in connection with the seizure of drugs with a street value of nearly £2 million.

The men were arrested after detectives tracked a Mercedes lorry from Belgium to Great Lever and found 240 vaccum-packed sachets containing 400 kilograms of cannabis.

The arrests are part of an ongoing operation co-ordinated by undercover officers from West Midlands Police.

A police spokesman said the haul seized in Bolton, which had a street value of £1.8 million, was destined for towns and cities in the North-west and the Midlands.

Brothers Zia Khan, aged 28, and Munwar Khan, aged 45, from Great Lever, have appeared in court charged with possession and intent to supply drugs and been remanded in custody.

A third, Belgian man was arrested in Belgium and brought to the UK. All three will next appear at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday.

West Midlands Police set the undercover operation in motion after getting a tip-off that the haul was heading for their area.

They enlisted the help of the National Criminal Intelligence Service, Interpol, and Customs and Excise to track the lorry to Britain from Belgium.

Det Chief Insp Jon Hesketh,of West Midlands Police, said: "It is the biggest haul of cannabis we have recovered in a single operation and, even though it was seized in Bolton, some of it would intevitably have ended up on the streets in Birmingham.

"Bolton does seem to be suffering from a drug problem and it is quite nice that, through this operation, we have been able to assist in stemming the flow. The intelligence we have gathered strongly suggests that this consignment would have ended up being sold by street dealers in cities such as Birmingham and Manchester."