Brett Kerr-Laurie
A New Zealand-led naval task force has made its most expensive drug bust of the year while patrolling the Middle East.
The British Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster seized 1000kg of heroin, 660kg of hashish and 6kg of amphetamine from a small boat in the North Arabian Sea late last week, the New Zealand Defence Force said in a statement.
The Lancaster is part of the multinational Combined Maritime Task Force 150 (CTF 150), which is under New Zealand command.
Based in Bahrain, the CTF 150 is focused on maritime security in the Middle East with an emphasis on disrupting drug smuggling.
Using it’s new Peregrine uncrewed aerial system, the Lancaster identified a cargo dhow [a small sailing vessel] “acting in a suspicious manner”, the statement said.
A Royal Marine sniper team, on a Wildcat helicopter, covered teams as they boarded the vessel.
The teams secured six crew on the dhow, then found 50 packages containing heroin and 55 packages containing hashish and amphetamine.
The drugs were taken back to the frigate for testing and disposal.
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The Lancaster’s commanding officer commander Chris Chew said the ship’s latest success was the result of his crew’s motivation, commitment and dedication.
“This is another example of where Lancaster has delivered at range, in isolation, utilising her own organic assets.”
Task Force commander, Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) commodore Rodger Ward said it was the “largest value narcotics interdiction” the CTF 150 had made under NZ command this year.
He said the task force and its partners had now seized narcotics with a collective New Zealand street value of $1.8b.
“Furthermore we estimate that our presence and the intelligence collected from our operations has resulted in the disruption of nearly three times that amount.”
Ward acknowledged the 210-strong company of the Lancaster for “continuing to get amongst it day-after-day”.
“Everyone in the team can be proud of their efforts to disrupt the criminal and terrorist organisations that continue to use illicit narcotics to fund their activities and this is a significant blow to their revenue stream.
“Conducting maritime interdictions requires a team effort from the men and women here in the headquarters in Bahrain reaching through to those out on the oceans disrupting drug smuggling operations at the coal face.”
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The seizure was testament to the tenacity, training and professionalism of CTF 150’s Royal Navy partners, he said.
RNZN frigate HMNZS Te Kaha has also been deployed to CTF 150 over the past two months, conducting similar operations as the Lancaster as part of New Zealand’s commitment to collective security efforts in the region.
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