Portsmouth-based Royal Navy warship in Indian Ocean double drugs bust

  • Watch as specialist Royal Marines board a suspect vessel in the Indian Ocean.

A Royal Navy warship seized more than £10m of narcotics in two separate operations at the weekend.

HMS Lancaster left Portsmouth in August on a long-term security mission to patrol the Indian Ocean.

In just 12 hours it captured more than seven tons of hashish, heroin and methamphetamine.

In the first mission, the ship's specialist Royal Marines found 3.5 tons of drugs after boarding a suspect vessel they had been tracking since the early hours of the morning.

Royal Marines found bags of drugs on the vessels Credit: Royal Navy

Samples were taken and the drugs, with a UK wholesale value of £5.5m, were destroyed.

That evening, the ship’s Wildcat helicopter spotted another suspect craft.

The helicopter is one of many tools Lancaster can use while conducting operations at sea.

They can relay real-time information back to the ship’s control centre for the Commanding Officer to make decisions.

The team transport the drugs to HMS Lancaster Credit: Royal Navy

As the sun set over the Indian Ocean, the team, having only just reset from the previous boarding, sprang into action to do it all again.

A large quantity of packages were found on the suspect vessel and were confirmed to be hashish.

A total of 376 bags were recovered, weighing 3.7 tons and with a UK wholesale value of just over £4m.

376 bags of drugs were discovered. Credit: Royal Navy

Commander Tom Johnson, the ship’s Commanding Officer, said: “I am immensely proud of my entire team for their efforts in successfully executing two boardings, in challenging conditions, and inside of 12 hours.

“This comes less than a day after concluding an intense period of maritime security operations in the Straits of Hormuz.

"It was a real team success; bringing together the efforts of my team with those of a vast range of international support organisations who have all worked tirelessly to achieve this result.”

Last month, the warship seized hashish worth £2.5m.

This last haul means HMS Lancaster has now prevented 10.4 tons of illegal narcotics from reaching the streets this year.

The team has prevented 10.4 tons of illegal drugs from reaching the streets this year. Credit: Royal Navy

Deputy UK Maritime Component Commander in Bahrain, Captain Will Paston, said: “The technical expertise, tactical proficiency, steadfast professionalism, and investigative thoroughness were evident throughout the entire boarding process.

“These seizures were a direct result of the countless hours of dedication by HMS Lancaster and the wider supporting team in Bahrain.”

The ship is part of the United Kingdom’s enduring presence in the Middle East and is on a three-year mission to support maritime security and to counter illegal activity.

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