Royal Navy and US Coast Guard capture cocaine smugglers

The Royal Navy has assisted the US Coast Guard in an operation to stop a major drug smuggling operation in the Caribbean.

A drug-running speedboat was stopped in the international waters south of the Dominican Republic. It was carrying 1.25 tonnes of cocaine, which is a class A drug.

Warning shots from the US Coast Guard helicopter failed to stop the boat and the crew started throwing the evidence overboard. Gun fire was used to disable the boat and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Wave Knight sent a boarding craft to help capture and question the smugglers. The Royal Navy recovered 45 bales of cocaine that had been jettisoned.

The cocaine recovered had a US wholesale value of $37 million, but this is much more in the UK. The UK street price is estimated at around £300 million, according to the Ministry of Defence.

British defence secretary Philip Hammond said: “Once again the Royal Navy have played a key role in the international mission to tackle the drugs trade from the Caribbean. The crew of RFA Wave Knight should be proud of their role in seizing such a massive amount of drugs, made more impressive as it is their second successful operation within a month.”

Lt Commander Gabe Somma, public affairs officer for the Miami Coast Guard, said that last year more than $5 billion-worth of drugs was intercepted by the US Coast Guard and its partners.

The UK has one of the highest rates of cocaine use in the world and most of the drug comes from Central America and the northern part of South America. The Navy is working at the source of the smuggling operations to attempt to reduce how much enters the UK.