Royal Navy Frigate Seizes £440m Drugs Haul In Arabian Sea

Type 23 frigate HMS Lancaster and embarked Royal Marines have teamed up to seize drugs with an estimated street value of about £440 million in the Arabian Sea.

Working as part of the New Zealand-led Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150), the raid was carried out in the North Arabian Sea late last week, as per a recent press statement from the New Zealand Defence Force.

It said the Royal Navy vessel had been conducting a routine patrol as part of its CTF 150 duties when it “identified and tracked a small cargo dhow acting in a suspicious manner.”

The ship first used a Peregrine uncrewed aerial system for surveillance, before Royal Marines boarded the vessel while covered by snipers aboard a Wildcat helicopter.

Six crew were detained and the boarding team found packages containing 1000kg of heroin, 660kg of hashish and 6kg of amphetamine tablets; this is thought to be the biggest seizure of illicit narcotics so far this year. The drugs were taken back to the ship for testing and disposal.  

Commander Chris Chew, HMS Lancaster Commanding Officer, commented: “This is another example of where Lancaster has delivered at range, in isolation, utilising her own organic assets.”

And CTF 150 Commander, Commodore Rodger Ward of the Royal New Zealand Navy, added: “This is the largest value narcotics interdiction we’ve made under our New Zealand command this year.

“Conducting maritime interdictions requires a team effort from the men and women here in the headquarters in Bahrain reaching through to those out on the oceans disrupting drug-smuggling operations at the coal face.

“I’d like to acknowledge the 210-strong ship’s company from Lancaster for continuing to get amongst it day-after-day. Everyone in the team can be proud of their efforts to disrupt the criminal and terrorist organisations that continue to use illicit narcotics to fund their activities and this is a significant blow to their revenue stream.”

CTF 150 is one of five operational task forces under the Combined Maritime Forces based in Bahrain. Its main focus is maritime security, in particular disrupting drug smuggling. 

• You can read more details about the operation on the New Zealand Defence Force website