Royal Navy seizes a tonne of drugs worth £15m in Gulf of Oman

Ellen Manning
More than one tonne of drugs worth more than £15m has been seized by the Royal Navy in its first bust of the year. (SWNS)
More than one tonne of drugs worth more than £15m has been seized by the Royal Navy in its first bust of the year. (SWNS)

Drugs weighing over a tonne and worth nearly £15 million have been seized by a Royal Navy ship in its first bust of the year.

HMS Montrose, a Royal Navy ship operating as part of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) - a multinational maritime partnership - made the seizure in the Gulf of Oman.

The haul included 663kg of heroin, 87kg of methamphetamine and 291kg of hashish and marijuana, the Navy said.

During the 10-hour operation, a Navy team including Royal Marines approached the small vessel on two RIBs before securing and searching it, then bringing the drugs back to HMS Montrose to be analysed and destroyed.

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The Navy said the successful operation had prevented a large amount of illegal drugs from potentially reaching the UK and being sold on Britain's streets.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: "The Royal Navy continue to step forward with our partners in the Combined Maritime Forces to stamp out the smuggling of illegal substances.

"As a result of this successful bust, our streets are safer and have choked off a huge source of finance to international organised crime groups."

The seizure was the Navy's first bust of the year. (SWNS)
The seizure was the Navy's first bust of the year. (SWNS)

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The operation is the largest Royal Navy drugs bust since HMS Montrose seized 2.4 tonnes of illegal substances in the Arabian Sea last year.

HMS Montrose has working in the region since early 2019, and regularly works alongside international partners which make up the 34-nation coalition CMF, which was led by the Royal New Zealand Navy at the time of the drugs bust.

Seized narcotics being loaded into Seaboat following seizure in the Gulf Of Oman, 15 January 2022. See SWNS story SWBRnavy; More than one tonne of drugs – worth over £15m – has been seized by the Royal Navy in its first bust of the year. In a ten-hour operation sailors and Royal Marines from HMS Montrose bagged an assortment of heroin, methamphetamine and hashish – depriving criminal and terrorist networks of vital funding. The frigate – which has been operating permanently in the Middle East for nearly three years – was patrolling for a New Zealand-led task force in the Gulf of Oman when she encountered a suspect vessel. Montrose’s boarding team pounced so quickly that the crew had no time to hide their illegal cargo in a secret compartment – though the boarding team still searched every inch of the boat to make sure all drugs were recovered.
HMS Montrose has been operating in the Middle East for nearly three years. (SWNS)

Commander Claire Thompson, Commanding Officer of HMS Montrose, said: "Our enduring presence never wanes.

"Nine rotations into the forward deployed model, HMS Montrose remains as professional and enthusiastic as ever.

"Starboard Crew’s relentless efforts have resulted in a substantial seizure of illegal narcotics and I am extremely proud of my team."

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