Royal Navy vessels seize £81m in cocaine in Caribbean waters

A Royal Navy task group has reached a triple blow to drug traffickers in the Caribbean after seizing 11 bundles of cocaine worth £81 million in street value. The drugs were reportedly destined for the UK.

The two British vessels involved in the bust — HMS Medway and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Argus — were provided to the Caribbean region by the UK to provide humanitarian aid and disaster relief support, but they also work with the US Coast Guard, as in this operation, to carry out maritime security and counter-narcotic patrols.

These vessels serve Cayman with helicopter cover in June whilst the Royal Cayman Island Police Service aircraft were being serviced and also supported the hurricane exercise at Colliers Beach.

New patrol ship HMS Medway and her US Coast Guard team followed that up by catching traffickers in two interceptions within 24 hours in the Caribbean Sea, which results in 650 kilograms of cocaine seized.

According to figures calculated by the National Crime Agency, the combined haul of the British and American teams is worth £81m.

Commanding Officer of HMS Medway, Lieutenant Commander Jim Blythe, said, “The Royal Navy and the US Coast Guard have prevented a significant quantity of drugs crossing the Caribbean, where possibly it was destined for the streets of the UK. This marks the start of what will hopefully be many interdiction operations as we continue to operate in the Caribbean over the next few years.”

UK Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey said, “The Royal Navy task group located to support our overseas territories during the Covid-19 pandemic. They stayed in the Caribbean to respond to damage caused by hurricanes and now they’re making drugs busts alongside our friends in the US Coast Guard."

According to the spokesperson for 47 Commando’s 539 Raiding Squadron, Some patches of heavy rain had hidden Argus from sight in the distance and we were closing in unseen. When we were one mile off they saw us and started to run for it.

“We could see people on board throwing packages into the sea. This is important evidence, so we had to stop and collect one. The rest were picked up later. We then continued the chase and managed to catch the vessel. I am really pleased that all the hard work paid off. It was a team effort, and I am particularly proud of my team for the long hours they put in on the water," the spokesperson added.

The crew of the intercepted vessel was brought back to RFA Argus along with their seized cargo before being transferred to the US Coast Guard cutter Spencer.

Sixteen bales of cocaine and three detainees were captured in the first boarding, which saw Medway catch up with the suspect craft from 45 miles out.

Just one day later more information was fed to Medway and she gave chase to another craft, landing a further nine bales and three more detainees.

Those detainees and the seized drugs have now been handed over to US authorities allowing Medway to resume patrols of the region.