British navy ship aids in £8.5m cocaine bust
A crew of British civilian sailors helped the US Coast Guard seize £8.5m worth of cocaine in the Caribbean
A British Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship helped the US Coast Guard seize a cocaine haul worth £8.5m.
The crew of civilian sailors on board naval support ship RFA Wave Knight provided essential assistance as the US Coast Guard boarded a suspect speedboat.
A total of 170kg of cocaine was found on board and two men were taken to the American mainland.
The drugs bust came after the crew of the Wave Knight spotted the speedboat operating off the coast of Jamaica.
RFA Wave Knight commanding officer Captain Duncan Lamb said: “RFA Wave Knight’s latest cocaine seizure rounds off a very successful patrol and underlines the effectiveness of multi-national counter narcotics operations in the Caribbean.”
“The ship, US Coast Guard law enforcement detachment and an armed helicopter working together present a formidable obstacle to the smugglers.”
The RFA ship is part of Operation Martillo, a 15-nation combined effort to prevent drug trafficking from Central and South America into countries such as the UK.
Minister of the state for the armed forces Mark Fancois said: “I am delighted that the men and women of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have once again provided vital assistance to the international counter-narcotics mission in the Caribbean.”
“I’d like to thank them for their hard work throughout their deployment which has already led to millions of pounds worth of illegal drugs being taken off our streets.”
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