HMS Defender, a Type 45 Destroyer, found the drugs on a dhow as they swept the northern Arabian Sea for smugglers and traffickers.
According to the Royal Navy in a release here, HMS Defender’s success came thanks to the alertness of her helicopter crew during a dawn patrol over the northern Arabian Sea.
“Their Wildcat located a solo dhow not flying any flag or showing any evidence that it was carrying out any fishing.
That prompted the destroyer to investigate, sending Royal Marines across in sea boats to secure the dhow and its crew, and Royal Navy sailors to conduct a thorough search of the vessel while the Wildcat hovered overhead to provide protection.
The sailors located 11 mail-bag-sized sacks, some weighing up to 15-20 kilograms and suspected of containing crystal methamphetamines. The total haul was 131kg.”
Armed Forces Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:
“Thanks to HMS Defender and her crew, these drugs will be kept off the streets and the criminal gangs behind this poisonous trade will have suffered financially. It is a clear reminder at this time of year that our Armed Forces are working tirelessly to keep us safe.”
The Royal Navy say that HMS Defender has been deployed to the Middle East since August, spending most of her time to safeguarding merchant shipping entering and leaving the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz.
I hear the Royal Regiment of Scotland wasn’t impressed with this story.
Do the Marines now get to stitch a little white line around the dagger on their brassard…to become crack commandos?
who’s driving the boat ?
Tactical rope tied around the throttle?
stay focussed shipmates. best of luck out there. weed is not important now.
The American strike on Iranian Generals, could lead to Iranian retaliation. I hope the crews on all RN warships in the Gulf are on high alert. This US/Iran stand-off may scupper any slash & burn plan No 10 may have for T26/31 numbers.
Tensions in the Middle East will increase dramatically. More so as Russia is an ally of Iran. No one wants war and obviously it would be preferable for tensions to ease, but would be a nice silver lining if some more money were allocated to defence as a result.
It’s definitely going to get bumpy in the region (and out of it as well – Iranian sleeper cells are implanted all over Europe and the U.S.). The question is: will Iran be prepared to go fully monty with retaliation that will result in a devastating U.S. tit for tat response? Or will they use proxies to strike across the globe? I’m thinking option 2 but I’m not sure they realize that the U.S. will consider that a direct Iranian attack and respond directly against the country. Things are different now… Having said that, that Suleimani was responsible for the… Read more »
An LSE professor (from the Middle-East) said on the BBC that the most likely retaliation will be against softer targets such as the US allies! We can expect trouble.
What sort of creature is Trump? Yes, the Iranian General was a hate filled bag of shit….but so is Trump. How many lives are now going to be lost because one disgusting man is murdered by another equally disgusting man. If I had been invited to share an evening with the pair of them or muck out a pig sty, the latter would have won. Pigs don’t know how to hate!
But clearly you do, H.
Clearly, I don’t. You can criticise the moral values of leaders without hating them. If you think that Trump is to be respected for his actions then just wait until British service personnel are on the receiving end of Iranian retribution. I doubt there will be too many smart-arse quips from you then!
Yes you do. Yours was an emotional rant, not an objective criticism. Demonstrably full of hate.
As for ‘smart arsed remark’. My,you really are an arrogant abusive individual aren’t you? Never let a sentence pass that doesn’t contain a personal insult.
And by the way, our superb armed forces are no more at risk from Iran today than they were before this murderous Warlord was removed.
Interesting article here H.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/01/soleimani-assassination-iran-iraq-us.html
Cheers!
If Mr Al Mamouri is right……then the RN will be committed to escorting tankers through Hormuz for years to come. They will not be able to drop their guard….for, as the IRA pointed out, they only have to get lucky once.
I’m optimistic about peace.
Russia and Iran know that they can’t go toe-to-toe with the west. Iran might try something since they’re directly involved, but Russia might just use this as an excuse to observe their equipment in operation and gather data on western equipment & capabilities.
All £2.3 million was handed over on arrival at port!!!!!!