LONDON: Cocaine worth an estimated £36m has been seized by the Royal Navy after a high-speed chase across the Caribbean.
Smugglers began to throw their cargo overboard but were surrounded by patrol boats guided by the Plymouth-based frigate HMS Argyll.The 850kg (1,900lbs) seizure is the third by HMS Argyll in as many months.
The seizures have resulted in 1,600kg (3,500lbs) of cocaine – with an estimated street value of £68m – being confiscated, the Royal Navy said.
The type 23 frigate has been conducting drug patrols in partnership with the UK’s National Crime Agency, the US Coast Guard and other nations.
It is currently taking part in Operation Martillo, a 15-nation effort to prevent access to central America by air and sea by criminal gangs.
The aim is to stop the illegal movement of drugs from south America to the rest of the world, the navy said.
