The crew of Royal Fleet Auxiliary Naval Support Ship, RFA Wave Knight, has again assisted in the international counter narcotics operation in the Caribbean seizing an illicit 1.25 ton cargo of cocaine with a UK wholesale value of over £60m.
An international operation during the night of 22 January, involving a US Coast Guard patrol aircraft, Wave Knight and the ship’s embarked Coast Guard helicopter, forced a speedboat suspected of drug smuggling to stop in international waters south of theDominican Republic. The Coast Guard helicopter fired warning shots in an attempt to get the vessel to stop but when the suspected smugglers were observed jettisoning the bales of drugs overboard the decision was made to use disabling fire. This allowed Wave Knight to quickly launch its own small boat with a US Coast Guard team to board and question the suspects. A second boat from Wave Knight recovered 45 bales of cocaine which had been thrown overboard into the water nearby.
Approximately 1.25 tonnes of cocaine with a current UK wholesale value of over £60M was seized while four people were detained on board. The cocaine and detainees were handed over to the US authorities off the coast of Puerto Rico.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said: “Once again the Royal Navy have played a key role in the international mission to tackle the drugs trade from theCaribbean. The crew of RFA Wave Knight should be proud of their role in seizing such a massive amount of drugs, made more impressive as it is their second successful operation within a month.”
The interdiction marks the first time an armed U.S Coast Guard helicopter has embarked on a foreign flagged military vessel in support of counter narcotic operations.
Captain Duncan Lamb, Commanding Officer of RFA WAVE KNIGHT, said: “RFA Wave Knight, working seamlessly with the US Coast Guard, has demonstrated her capability and resolve to disrupt the illicit drug trade. On this occasion, a significant amount of Class A drugs has been stopped from reaching the streets of the UK and USA.”
This success follows closely on from Wave Knight’s seizure of marijuana on Boxing Day last year. The ship is deployed in support of Operation Martillo, a 15-nation collaborative effort to deny transnational criminal organisations air and maritime access to the coastal regions of Central America and to disrupt the illegal movement of drugs from South America into the Caribbean and onwards to the UK.
RFA Wave Knight has been deployed to the Caribbean since January 2013 as part of the UK’s year round commitment to the region in support of the Overseas Territories, hurricane and disaster relief and counter narcotic operations. Until late last year she operated alongside HMS Lancaster with both ships enjoying success against the drugs trade. This latest interdiction is the largest and most significant seizure of the deployment.