A Royal Navy warship has seized and destroyed drugs worth more than £75m in just one two-day period while patrolling the notorious smuggling route, the ‘Hash Highway’ in the Gulf.
Using fast boats launched from the Type 45 destroyer, Navy sailors and Royal Marines boarded the boats, or dhows, and found 10 tonnes of illegal narcotics.
HMS Dragon’s helicopter was also deployed to help in the operations.
A boarding approaches a dhow suspected of carrying drugs
Boarding officer Lieutenant Jonathan Bennett said: “To achieve two major drugs busts in under 48 hours is a massive achievement for the team.
“Our Royal Navy and Royal Marines boarding teams worked long hours in very challenging seas to remove nearly 10,000kg of narcotics.
“During the second boarding, the sea deteriorated resulting in increasingly hazardous conditions for our searchers.
“We had to endure heavy seas, large amounts of ship movement and a dangerous working environment, all while removing over 300 heavy bags of narcotics and transporting them back to Dragon successfully.”
Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon is part of an international task force Pic: royalnavy.mod.uk
Portsmouth-based HMS Dragon left its home port for deployment in September and has been working in the Middle East as part of the Combined Task Force 150, a multi-national organisation responsible for maintaining security in some of the world’s most important shipping lanes.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said the success of anti-drug operations in the Gulf “represents a significant dent in the pockets of criminals who seek to put these drugs onto our streets.
“The global narcotics network is a scourge that we are absolutely committed to tackling, as part of our commitment to security in the Gulf and across the world.”
Despite their achievements there will be no let-up for the crew of HMS Dragon over the festive period.
They will remain on operations in the Gulf throughout Christmas.
