WAFF | World's Armed Forces Forum: RN High on cocaine

Britain's Royal Navy seized its largest ever cocaine haul in a drugs bust off the coast of South America, the Ministry of Defence has announced.

The frigate HMS Iron Duke found a five and a half tonne stash, with a street value of $436 million, smuggled on board an old fishing vessel.

The Royal Navy crew spent more than 24 hours scouring the MV Cristal, eventually smashing through a concrete floor with sledgehammers and unbolting steel panels to uncover the hidden cargo.

"This is the largest seizure of cocaine in Royal Navy history, and is a very significant victory in the continuing fight against illegal drugs," said Commander Andrew Stacey, HMS Iron Duke's commanding officer.

"Iron Duke will continue to hunt for cocaine traffickers whilst standing by to assist in the event of a hurricane in the region. This is our job and we are good at it."

Prince William, second in line to the throne, served on HMS Iron Duke in the Caribbean Sea last year when the warship seized cocaine worth $81 million.

The frigate's helicopter spotted the 42m-long converted fishing vessel acting suspiciously in a known narcotics trafficking region.

The warship pounced and the crew took off 212 bales of cocaine weighing approximately 26kg each, hidden under the ship's regular stores.

The MV Cristal suffered a power failure and was drifting near a shipping lane so the Royal Navy sank it with gunfire.

The cocaine was stored under armed guard aboard HMS Iron Duke.

"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," Stacey said.

Several drug runners of different nationalities were arrested. No details were given of where the ship was travelling to or from for operational reasons.

HMS Iron Duke is on a six-month deployment to the Caribbean to assist British overseas territories during the hurricane season.

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RN High on cocaine

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