Navy

Royal Navy warship HMS Trent seizes £204m of cocaine in latest drugs bust

The Royal Navy continues to disrupt drug networks across the world – with HMS Trent seizing £204m of cocaine after a pursuit in the Caribbean Sea.

Following this latest bust success, the crew of the Royal Navy warship have now stopped £511 million worth of drugs.

United States Maritime Patrol alerted the Royal Navy's offshore patrol vessel (OPV) which then used her radars to track down the suspicious vessel.

As the Royal Navy ship closed in, the suspicious vessel started throwing bales of cocaine into the sea to try and evade capture.

The crew of HMS Trent then had to recover the drugs thrown overboard, and the extensive search operation ran throughout the night, with the crew eventually recovering more than 2.5 tonnes of cocaine.

Royal Navy HMS Trent seizes more than £500m of drugs in Caribbean Sea 06052024 CREDIT MOD.jpg — The crew of HMS Trent then had to recover the drugs thrown overboard (Picture: Royal Navy)

Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps said: "I'd like to congratulate the crew of HMS Trent for this latest bust, but also for their incredible work over the previous 5 months, seizing large amounts of drugs and disrupting global drug networks.

"The Royal Navy continue to show that those who seek to profit from illegal drugs face the full force of justice, wherever they are in the world."

Earlier in the year, HMS Trent seized nearly £300 million of narcotics.

Personnel on HMS Trent worked alongside the US Coast Guard to recover more than 3,000kg of cocaine and other class-A drugs being smuggled on speedboats in the region.

An abandoned drug smuggler boat intercepted by HMS Trent — One of the abandoned drug boats and its illegal cargo (Picture: Royal Navy)

HMS Trent has been deployed in the Caribbean Sea since December, specifically to hunt drug smugglers, maintain maritime security and uphold international law in the region.

Working with multinational partners, across five months of operations, the ship has seized 6,390kg of drugs with a street value of £511m.

HMS Trent's Commanding Officer, Commander Tim Langford, added: "The combined capabilities of the ship, the embarked US Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment and our 47 Commando coxswains have proven once again the utility of our ship in countering narcotics smuggling.

"Working seamlessly to complete another covert take down, Trent and her crew continue to achieve unparalleled success in intercepting traffickers."