HMS Ocean Foils Airborne Drug Smugglers of the Caribbean

Plymouth-based helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, the Royal Navy’s largest
warship, has made another seizure of nearly half a tonne of cocaine
during its current maritime security patrol in the Atlantic and
Caribbean.

This time fifteen bales of the drug, with a street value of around £29
million, were hoisted from the sea by one of the ship’s Merlin
helicopters after an attempt by smugglers to drop them to a waiting
boat. This is the second seizure by HMS Ocean in the last six weeks
and represents yet another significant victory in the war against
drugs, which has seen the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary,
working with other UK and foreign agencies, seizing over £1bn worth in
the last 15 months alone.

www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news