Navy seizes £ 81m of cocaine

Royal Navy warships have been involved in three drugs busts in the Caribbean which saw £ 81 million of cocaine seized.

Sailors, Royal Marines and the US Coast Guard team on board support ship RFA Argus hauled 1 1 bales of cocaine weighing 358kg in the first of three busts in seven days.

Patrol ship HMS Medway and the US Coast Guard then carried out two interceptions within 24 hours in the Caribbean, seizing 650kg of cocaine.

Lieutenant Commander Jim Blythe, the commanding officer of HMS Medway, said: “The Royal Navy and the US Coast Guard have prevented a significant quantity of drugs crossing the Caribbean that could have been destined for the streets of the UK.”

A r m e d f o r c e s m i n i s - t e r J a mes Hea p p e y s a i d : “The Royal Navy task group deployed to support our overseas territories during the Covid- 19 pandemic.

“They stayed in the Caribbean to respond to damage caused by hurricanes and now they’re making drugs busts alongside our friends in the US Coast Guard.”

A navy spokesman said: “In the first success, an American maritime patrol aircraft spotted a suspicious vessel riding low in the water and reported it to Argus, which immediately changed course to investigate. The 28,000- tonne vessel used squalls as cover to stay out of sight and avoid raising suspicion.”