Royal Navy helps seize drugs worth almost £400m

Drugs worth close to £400 million have been seized with the help of Royal Navy sailors during a successful multinational five-month programme in the Gulf and Indian Ocean.

Since April, British, French, US and Australian warships in Combined Task Force 150 (CTF150) have taken part in Operation Southern Surge to counter narcotics trafficking, which funds terrorism in the region.

More than three million square miles of sea are policed by the naval task force in a bid to track down vessels smuggling drugs and weapons. The multinational coalition is also focused on deterring and denying maritime terrorist activity in the region, which includes some of the world’s most vital trade routes such as the Suez Canal and Bab Al Mandeb Strait.

The Royal Navy Type 23 frigate HMS Monmouth helped seize 265kg of heroin and 455kg of hashish worth £65m as eight significant drugs busts prevented 1.75 tonnes of narcotics reaching the streets.

Defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon said the success of the joint task force demonstrated Britain’s firm commitment to global maritime security and its ability to work with European allies to tackle the threat from drug smuggling.

“The money made from these nefarious criminal activities fund the terrorists who threaten us at home and abroad,” he added.