Royal Navy seizes cocaine worth £142 million in major Caribbean bust
THE Royal Navy seized cocaine worth £142million when a helicopter swooped on smugglers in the Caribbean.
HMS Dauntless scrambled its Wildcat chopper when its anti-missile radar detected a speedboat racing towards the US.
Commando snipers on the aircraft had the smugglers in their sights and forced the boat to stop.
Allies from the US Coast Guard then boarded the suspect vessel and seized 1.2 tons of cocaine.
A source said: “It was drama on the high seas and a brilliant operation.
“Our guys swooped on the boat from the air and brought it to a halt.
“Law enforcement went on board and found a huge consignment of cocaine.
“It is one of the largest ever seizures by the Royal Navy in their role of patrolling for drugs.
“It will be a massive kick in the teeth for the cartel behind the smuggling plot.’’
It was the first time the Type 45 destroyer’s Samson radar has been used to smash smuggling gangs.
Usually it looks for hostile incoming jets and missiles.
It can track 1,000 objects the size of cricket balls travelling three times the speed of sound.
In a second mission the radar tracked a smugglers’ plane which was carrying 550kg of cocaine from Venezuela.
The ship’s captain, Commander Ben Dorrington, said: “I am immensely proud of what we have achieved.”