A Royal Navy frigate and its Wildcat helicopter joined forces with Commandos to bust a £15.5m crystal meth haul stashed on a ship within the Arabian Sea.
It is the fifth main narcotics raid this 12 months by the frigate.
HMS Montrose focused the small conventional dhow vessel after the Wildcat helicopter tracked the actions of the suspect boat.
A boarding social gathering of Royal Marines searched the vessel and located 870kg of crystal methamphetamine in a secret compartment following the six-hour operation.
The haul has a wholesale worth of £15.5m, in accordance with the National Crime Agency.
A Royal Navy spokesman stated: “HMS Montrose pounced, after her Wildcat helicopter located and tracked the suspect dhow until the frigate was in range to launch her boarding teams in her boats.
“Royal Marines from 42 Commando, the UK army’s specialists in these operations, seized management of the vessel in uneven circumstances, earlier than sailors moved in to look the craft for any unlawful cargo, whereas overhead the Wildcat noticed proceedings and supplied cowl for these scouring the dhow for her illicit cargo.
“Persistence from the boarding team led to a secret compartment being found aboard the vessel, revealing hidden illegal narcotics.”
HMS Montrose, which has been primarily based within the Middle East since 2019, has intercepted narcotics value practically £47m this 12 months.
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Commander Claire Thompson, the frigate’s commanding officer, stated the operation had “disrupted the unlawful use of the oceans”.
She added: “A seizure of this size will deal a huge blow to the criminal or terrorist gangs using these illegal narcotics to fund their activity.
“This success proves we’ll persistently deny criminals the liberty to conduct their criminality on the excessive seas.
“Disrupting terrorist organisations, criminals and their funding lines is key to keeping the UK, and rest of the world, safe.
“It is a privilege to command HMS Montrose and the extremely skilled, highly-trained and devoted personnel that I’ve on my crew.
“I could not be prouder of each and every one of them.”
Source: information.sky.com”