Royal Marines seize £15m of narcotics in nine-hour 40°C Indian Ocean drug bust

Royal Navy warship HMS Diamond has seized a large haul of hashish worth £15m from a trading vessel in the Indian Ocean.

Operating under scorching heat in the Gulf of Aden, the Portsmouth-based ship forced the suspect dhow to halt, allowing for sailors and Royal Marines to board and search the vessel where they found more than 2,000kg of narcotics.

Having initially ignored calls from HMS Diamond to stop, the dhow was halted when the destroyer's Wildcat helicopter appeared overhead along with two seaboats, all with weapons pointed at the suspect vessel.

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During the nine-hour operation, Royal Marines from 42 Commando secured the vessel, allowing Diamond's Royal Navy boarding team to search for illicit cargo.

An in-depth search of the dhow uncovered numerous packages, which subsequent testing aboard the destroyer confirmed contained illegal narcotics. A total of 2.4 tonnes of hashish was destroyed.

HMS Diamond was operating under the banner of the Canadian-led Combined Task Force 150 – dedicated to stopping criminal activity across more than two million square miles of ocean in the Middle East.

 "This interdiction conducted by HMS Diamond is a great example of the effective collaboration between Combined Maritime Forces partners and the Combined Task Force 150 team," said Captain Colin Matthews, the Royal Canadian Navy officer in charge of the international force.

"After only couple of days working together, HMS Diamond's crew and CTF 150 staff were able to have an impact helping to increase the stability and safety for the regional populations and legitimate maritime traffic by interdicting 2382 kg of narcotics."

The latest bust comes after HMS Lancaster seized almost £33m of drugs in the Indian Ocean in April, conducting two drug busts in 24 hours.