Dramatic photos show the moment the Royal Navy seized £40m worth of cocaine in daring drugs bust off the Caribbean coast.
Patrol vessel HMS Trent closed in on a speed boat suspected of trafficking the drugs as it travelled 120 nautical miles south of the Dominic Republic.
The Royal Marines and US Coast Guard on board intercepted the vessel on the waves when the smugglers threw 506kg of Class A narcotics overboard.
In a video, the Marines can be seen fishing the drugs out of the ocean before bringing three smugglers back on board from their bright blue boat during the bust on August 8.
The drug traffickers were handed over to the United States authorities for prosecution.
It is HMS Trent’s sixth interception this year, bringing the total amount of drugs seized in the area to £551.5 million.
HMS Trent’s Commanding Officer, Commander Tim Langford, said: “This successful operation with our American partners demonstrates HMS Trent’s ability to support -trafficking operations in the Caribbean Sea.
“Every member of my team can be proud of another significant haul – the sixth this year.”
In response to this success of their sixth interception, the Minister for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard said: “This recent operation highlights the Royal Navy’s vital role in maintaining maritime security and upholding international law in the region.
“We are sending a clear message to drug traffickers that nowhere is safe and we will disrupt and dismantle their operations wherever they are in the world.”
These successful interceptions disrupt Transnational Criminal Organisations (TCO), and underscore the Royal Navy’s vital role in maintaining maritime security.
HMS Trent has now seized 6,995kg of drugs in 2024 as part of this multinational effort, working closely with the US Coast Guard and the Joint Interagency Task Force (South).
The ship continues to patrol the Caribbean as a reassuring presence to British Overseas Territories during hurricane season and to stem the flow of illegal cargo.