Royal Navy seizes £24m of cocaine in Caribbean drugs bust
A Royal Navy ship, accompanied by a US Coast Guard boarding team, has seized more than 400kg of cocaine in the Caribbean.
HMS Medway and her embarked US Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment noticed the vessel near the Dominican Republic – thanks to the help of a patrol aircraft.
After a chase, the vessel was boarded and the drugs, with a street value of around £24m, were found, with three crew members detained.
Chris Hollingworth, Commanding Officer of HMS Medway, said to complete the bust on the ship's "first day dedicated to this type of operation in this period has been tremendous".
"Everyone involved demonstrated their professionalism during a challenging pursuit.
"It might be the first, but we're going to make sure that it won't be the last, and I speak on behalf of everyone here in saying this has galvanised our determination to succeed," he added.
The boat contained a number of large packages quickly confirmed as cocaine before they were seized and taken on board the warship.
An overnight operation was taken to secure the drugs before the vessel was sunk by HMS Medway's gunnery team.
The destruction of the vessel, which is normal for this type of operation, is to make sure it is no longer used for illegal activity – as well as to provide valuable gunnery training.
A member of the US boarding team said that although the taking of smuggling boats is "commonplace in the Caribbean, that doesn't in any way diminish the achievement of landing a bust like this".
"Together with our partners on board Medway and up in the skies above us, we're able to smash a hole in the supply chain and disrupt the movement of these harmful drugs before they have the chance to harm people at home and abroad," they said.
It is believed the smuggler's boat had come from South America, a route often taken by smugglers at this time of year.
HMS Medway has recently helped the people of the Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos in their recovery efforts after Hurricanes Ian and Fiona.
"It's a perfect example of Medway's versatility, and demonstrates my team's ability to shift from Disaster Relief Operations to Counter Illicit Trafficking Operations without missing a beat," Cdr Hollingworth said.
"I'm exceptionally proud of the collective effort of my ship's company and our colleagues from the US Coast Guard for their proactive attitude and total commitment to the task."
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