Drugs squad officers from Hammersmith and Fulham swooped on smugglers heading for Cyprus and seized a BMW, £32,000 in cash and large quantities of an agent used to cut cocaine.

They intercepted a 29-year-old man from West Kensington and a 27-year-old man from Fulham as the pair prepared to board a plane at Gatwick Airport to Cyprus on Thursday, and arrested them for money laundering and conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

A third person, a 28-year-old woman from Wandsworth, was also held for money laundering.

All three suspects are currently at Fulham Police Station being questioned.

Officers seized £2,000 in cash and 25kg of Benzocaine, a cutting agent used in the the adulteration of cocaine, and later stormed a house, finding £30,000 in cash and a BMW, believed to be worth £35,000, which has also been confiscated.

A house in Cyprus which police think was bought from the proceeds of crime was also among the assets restrained.

DS Simon Rogers, who led the swoop, said: "This is a fantastic result which highlights the level of criminality that my team are currently targeting. This is an ongoing investigation, to target active drug dealers currently operating within Hammersmith & Fulham Borough."

The arrests are linked to the force's ongoing Operation Flatland, which has been targeting known smugglers.