Royal Navy Destroyer HMS Diamond Seizes £15 Million Of Drugs In The Indian Ocean

Dhow — Image Credits: Royal Navy/Twitter

The Royal Navy warship HMS Diamond has reportedly seized over two tons of illicit drugs as she struck against the traffickers in the waters of the Indian Ocean.

A massive haul of hashish was discovered by the destroyer’s sailors and the Royal Marines — 2.4 tons of illicit narcotics that had been destroyed.

Carrying out operations under the Canadian-led Combined Task Force 150 banner — committed to stopping criminal activities across over two million sq. miles of ocean in the Middle East — the Portsmouth-based warship compelled a suspect dhow to stop and search the vessel thoroughly in the 40°C heat in the Gulf of Aden.

It comes through as frigate HMS Lancaster, which has also been patrolling the waters of the Indian Ocean for the Bahrain task force, struck twice within 24 hours in April, successfully seizing £33 million of unlawful drugs in the mission.

Having ignored calls initially from the ship to the stop, the craft was paused as the destroyer’s Wildcat helicopter was seen overhead alongside seaboats, with advanced weapons trained on the dhow.

That resulted in a nine-hour mission, during which the Royal Marines from the 42 Commando secured the vessel to permit the boarding team members of the Diamond’s Royal Navy to search for unlawful cargo.

An in-depth scrutiny of the dhow recovered several packages — found to be having unlawful narcotics on subsequent testing on the destroyer.

HMS Diamond’s success also follows a concerted operation in April 2024 by CTF150, which resulted in a series of busts across the Indian Ocean by British, US, and Indian vessels, with almost 5 tons of drugs confiscated and destroyed.

Capt. Colin Matthews, the officer associated with the Royal Canadian Navy who is in charge of the international force, mentioned that the interdiction carried out by the HMS Diamond is a crucial example of the fruitful collaboration between the CMF partners and the CTF 150 team.

After a couple of days of working, HMS Diamond’s crew members and the CTF 150 staff could have an impact, helping increase the safety and stability of regional populations and maritime traffic by interdicting 2382 kgs of narcotics.

Reference: Royal Navy

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