ELITE Royal Marines stormed a smuggler’s dhow and seized £30 million worth of drugs, it has been revealed.
Commandos boarded the vessel under the gaze of a Royal Marine sniper who circled overhead in a Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter.
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The troops found 80 bags of illegal drugs including a tonne of heroin.
The Navy said: “The haul came to 1,000kg heroin, 660kg hashish, and 6kg of amphetamine – worth an estimated £30m on UK streets.”
The crew of the frigate HMS Lancaster had tracked the dhow with Peregrine spy drones – mini helicopters – as it crossed the Arabian Gulf towards Africa.
The warship remained hidden beyond the horizon for over 24 hours before closing in on the dhow and scrambling its boarding teams in fast attack boats and launching the Wildcat helicopter.
The Navy said it “pounced on a drug runner in the Middle East” during the daring High Seas mission.
It said: “After secretly shadowing the suspect through the Arabian Sea for more than 24 hours, frigate HMS Lancaster struck by sea and air to bring the dhow’s voyage to a halt.
“Under the watchful gaze of a Royal Marines sniper circling overhead in the frigate’s Wildcat helicopter, the boarding team of 42 Commando closed on the vessel in a pincer movement.”
Commander Chris Chew, the ship’s captain, said: “This is another example of where Lancaster has delivered at range, in isolation, utilising her own organic assets.”
Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard hailed the 200 strong crew for a “significant seizure, which is keeping dangerous and illegal drugs off our streets”.
The warship was serving as part of a taskforce led by New Zealand’s Navy to “disrupt criminal and terrorist organizations” by seizing drugs, guns and illicit goods at sea.
Commodore Rodger Ward, the Kiwi commander, hailed the “tenacity, training and professionalism” of the Royal Navy.
Opium poppies are farmed in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan processed into heroin and shipped across the Arabian Gulf for transit into Europe.
