Royal Navy ship seizes drugs worth £2.5m

THE Royal Navy warship HMS Lancaster has delivered a £2.5 million blow to drug-runners – soon after helping the evacuation from Sudan.

- CARL EVE

Fresh from assisting the UK Government’s operation to evacuate civilians from the war-torn African country, the frigate resumed her regular security patrol of the Arabian Sea – boarding a dhow carrying a staggering 3.2 tonnes of hashish.

HMS Lancaster, operating as part of the international Combined Task Force 150 dedicated to anti-smuggling and anti-terrorist activities in the region, came across a suspicious boat at last light on Monday.

The ship’s Royal Marines detachment, from 42 Commando, based at Bickley Barracks in Plymouth, boarded the vessel and immediately discovered a large quantity of packages on the deck.

The commandos were soon joined by a team of sailors who carried out an in-depth search in which nearly 200 packages were discovered, each containing around 11kg of cannabis resin, more commonly known as hashish.

The haul, totalling 3.22 tonnes, was transferred to the warship in an operation which extended long into the night. The drugs – estimated to be worth £2.5 million on the UK wholesale market – have now been destroyed.