Drugs boat blown up by Royal Navy

by Paul Conneally | July 22, 2009 at 03:37 am

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As part of the UK's war on drugs the Royal Navy frigate Iron Duke has blown up a drugs boat after first arresting the crew and seizing cocaine worth £33 million.

This type of deployment of forces is in marked contrast to sending troops to war in Afghanistan where the war on the Taliban has led to an increase in the growing of poppies and the export of illegal heroin into the world drugs market.

A navy warship has blown up a drugs boat after her crew were detained and three-quarters of a tonne of cocaine with a street value of £33m seized.

Portsmouth-based frigate HMS Iron Duke carried out the operation on patrol in the Caribbean and later destroyed the boat deemed as a "shipping risk".

The crew were detained by armed US coastguards before the boat was sunk.

HMS Iron Duke had been on her first counter-drugs patrol in her current deployment when the vessel was spotted.