Royal Navy warship seizes $12m of drugs after searching ships in Gulf

Drugs with an estimated street value of more than $12 million (D45 million) have been seized by Britain's Royal Navy during operations in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean.

HMS Lancaster, a Type 23 Royal Navy frigate, carried out searches in the Indian Ocean of two vessels in a 12-hour period.

More than seven tonnes of hashish, heroin and methamphetamine were recovered during a regional security patrol as part of the Royal Navy’s deployment to the region.

Specialist Royal Marines boarded the first suspect vessel in a dawn raid, finding 3.5 tonnes of drugs after tracking the ship in the early hours.

On the same day, a Wildcat helicopter was launched from HMS Lancaster to carry out reconnaissance on a second suspicious vessel operating nearby.

Marines found another 3.7 tonnes of illegal drugs in a search of the ship.

During the boarding operation, the Royal Navy said there were indications the vessel had started its journey from the Iranian coast before transferring the drugs at sea from another boat.

Commanding Officer Tom Johnson said his team had boarded in challenging conditions.

“This comes less than a day after concluding an intense period of maritime security operations in the Straits of Hormuz,” he said.

“It was a real team success, bringing together the efforts of my team with those of a vast range of international support organisations who have all worked tirelessly to achieve this result.”

Wildcat helicopters are an effective tool in assisting drug raids at sea, as they can relay real-time information back to the ship’s control centre to help the Commanding Officer decide on a course of action.

A total of 376 bags were recovered, weighing 3.7 tonnes.

HMS Lancaster has now intercepted 10.4 tonnes of illegal drugs this year, the Royal Navy said.

The ship, part of the UK’s presence in the Middle East, is on a three-year mission to support maritime security and counter illegal activity.

The multi-role warship also assisted a US Navy operation to support a merchant vessel that reported it was under harassment at sea from several smaller ships.

“The technical expertise, tactical proficiency, steadfast professionalism and investigative thoroughness were evident throughout the entire boarding process,” said Capt Will Paston, Deputy UK Maritime Component Commander in Bahrain.

“These seizures were a direct result of the countless hours of dedication by HMS Lancaster and the wider supporting team in Bahrain.”