Navy warship seizes cocaine in Caribbean

Crew from a Royal Navy warship have seized cocaine with a street value of more than £40m in an operation in the Caribbean.

HMS Trent helped intercept a speedboat 120 nautical miles south of the Dominican Republic on 8 August.

More than 500kg of cocaine was thrown overboard from the speedboat, but was seized, and three suspected smugglers were handed over to the US authorities, the Royal Navy said.

The haul is the sixth for the Portsmouth-based vessel so far this year, bringing the amount seized to nearly 7 tonnes.

HMS Trent is part of a multinational effort, working with the US Coast Guard and Joint Interagency Task Force.

The ship patrols the Caribbean as a reassuring presence to British Overseas Territories during hurricane season - from June to November - and to stem the flow of illegal cargo through the region, a Royal Navy spokesperson said.

In the latest operation, a US Maritime Patrol Aircraft flew overhead while the warship closed in and dispatched the Royal Marines and US Coast Guard to intercept the speedboat.

UK Armed forces minister Luke Pollard said: "We are sending a clear message to drug traffickers that nowhere is safe and we will disrupt and dismantle their operations wherever they are in the world."

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