Tri-Service
Royal Navy Seizes £1bn Of Drugs In Two Years
A Freedom of Information request has revealed that the Royal Navy has seized over £1 billion of drugs over the last two years.
It comes after a number of high-profile drugs busts in 2015, with the Senior Service making Britain's biggest ever in April.
Working with the National Crime Agency and the UK Border Force, HMS Somerset, assisted by the cutter HMC Valiant, intercepted an oceangoing tug in the North Sea.
The MV Hamal contained three tonnes of cocaine - which if cut and sold in the UK could have a street value of more than £500 million.
Just last month, meanwhile, a joint operation involving UK and French law enforcement resulted in the seizure of around 2.4 tonnes of cocaine, worth £350m, in the English Channel.
Armed Forces Minister Penny Mordaunt said:
“Our Armed Forces do so much more than combat operations alone and this is demonstrated by the fact that the Royal Navy has seized over £1bn of drugs over the last two years."
"This is another example of the impressive work undertaken by our warships which are deployed constantly to enhance the security of the UK.”
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