The Royal Navy has made its largest ever seizure of cocaine with a haul worth more than £240million.
- The Royal Navy has made its largest ever seizure of cocaine with a haul worth more than £240m.
- HMS Iron Duke seized more than five and a half tonnes of the drug in an operation off the coast of South America.
- In the UK it would have a street value of £240m, the Navy said.
A 138ft fishing boat, the MV Cristal, was spotted by a Navy helicopter crew in an area known for trafficking, which led to a dramatic swoop with the US Coast Guard and another British ship, Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Fort George. - In total, 212 bales of cocaine were found, weighing about 26kg each. The crews then sank the smugglers' boat with gun fire.
- Commander Andrew Stacey said that an armed helicopter and rigid inflatable boats were sent to intercept the ship on September 15.
- In a painstaking search of the vessel, the drugs were eventually found hidden under the ship's regular stores, beneath a concrete floor and steel panels.
- Tonnes of stock had to be moved, the hard floor broken up with sledgehammers and metal panels unbolted before the stash was revealed.
- Cmdr Stacey said: "This was our third successful drug bust in as many months but this surpasses anything we've had and anything the Navy had previously. It is the largest drugs bust by value, and by volume in terms of cocaine."
- Several drug runners of different nationalities were arrested.
- The cocaine was stored on the Iron Duke for around 24 hours - because there was so much of it some had to be kept on deck under armed guard.
- Cmdr Stacey said: "We are very well prepared to defend ourselves. It was a big quantity and I was conscious of the fact that some people might want it back, but they would have a tough time getting it back from us."
- HMS Iron Duke is on a six-month deployment to visit UK overseas territories during hurricane season.
- Prince William served on the vessel last year when it seized cocaine worth £45m in the Caribbean.
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