Home / News / Royal Navy seizes £3m worth of drugs
Royal Navy seizes £3m worth of drugs
DB News: 01/12/2015 - 11:07
The Portsmouth based frigate HMS Richmond sent up a Lynx helicopter to investigate what it believed to be a drug smuggling boat.
With Richmond nearby, the Royal Marine boarding crew was sent to recover 1,015 kg of cannabis that was bound for mainland Europe and potentially the UK.
Commander Mark Anderson, HMS Richmond’s Commanding Officer, said: “The Mediterranean is a known route for smuggling drugs into Europe and the UK. As soon as the smugglers were detected it took minutes to launch the ship’s boarding team and intercept and recover the drugs.”
Penny Mordaunt, Armed Forces Minister, said: “This goes to show the value of the Royal Navy, not just keeping key shipping channels safe but stopping the illicit trade in drugs. Our cutting edge warships and highly trained personnel have once again proved their flexibility to adapt their tasking to the war on drugs with good effect.”
Captain Paul Simmons, Royal Marines, who is in charge of the boarding team, added: “The team remains at high readiness throughout their time onboard for exactly this type of situation. With the assets available in HMS Richmond we can detect smuggling vessels over large distances, close with the location and quickly move to intercept.”
