The trial of three men who were arrested after ketamine with an estimated street value of £1.4million was found on a fishing boat in east Suffolk will take place in March 2026.

Before Ipswich Crown Court on Tuesday for a plea and trial preparation hearing were Richard Saul, 42, of Mill Lane, Woodbridge, Sean Seymour, 59, of Beech Road, Saxmundham, and Domenic Labella, 19, of Beaconsfield Road, Ipswich.

Saul pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to fraudulently evade the ban on the importation of 200kg of cocaine on February 17 this year.

Seymour and Labella denied being concerned in the importation of controlled drugs, namely 200kg of ketamine on February 17 this year.

Saul, Seymour and Labella all denied possessing cannabis with intent to supply on February 17 this year.

The trial of the three men, which is expected to last two weeks, will get underway on March 2, 2026.

A further case management hearing will take place on November 5 this year with a pre-trial review on February 26, 2026.

At Tuesday's hearing, Judge Richard Kelly granted all three men conditional bail.

The arrests were made on a boat in the River Deben in Suffolk after the men allegedly offloaded a number of boxes from the vessel into a waiting car at a dock in Ramsholt in east Suffolk in the early hours of Saturday, February 17.

The boxes were allegedly then taken to a storage unit in Rendlesham and when investigators searched the unit they found 200kg of ketamine.

Seymour and Labella, who are alleged to have transported the drugs, were arrested.

The boat is alleged to have travelled from Amsterdam in the Netherlands to the Suffolk dock for the purpose of importing drugs, Ipswich Crown Court heard.