Navy task force seizes £400m of drugs

A task force led by the Royal Navy has seized drugs worth nearly £400 million from smugglers.

Sailors made eight raids over a five-month period, netting 1.75 tonnes of narcotics.

The haul included 265kg of heroin and 455kg of hashish worth £65 million, which was seized by those manning HMS Monmouth – a Type 23 frigate.

The UK and France commanded the multinational naval task force, which polices more than three million square miles of sea in the Gulf and Indian ocean.

British, French, American and Australian warships took part in the operation also, the Ministry of Defence said. Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said: “The money made from these nefarious criminal activities fund the terrorists who threaten us at home and abroad.”