A Royal Navy warship, HMS Trent, has made a major drug bust in the Caribbean Sea, seizing cocaine with a street value exceeding £40 million, Bloomberg reports.
The seizure marks the sixth drug operation conducted by HMS Trent in 2024, bringing the total drugs seized this year to nearly seven tons, valued at £551.5 million.
The latest operation took place August 8, when HMS Trent commanding officer Tim Langford described the haul as “another significant achievement.” The warship was deployed after intelligence indicated a speedboat suspected of smuggling cocaine was operating about 120 nautical miles south of the Dominican Republic.
With the assistance of a US maritime patrol aircraft, HMS Trent intercepted the vessel, deploying Royal Marines and US Coast Guard personnel to assist in the operation. In an attempt to evade capture, the smugglers discarded their cargo overboard, but authorities successfully retrieved 506 kilograms of Class A narcotics. Three alleged smugglers were apprehended and handed over to US authorities for prosecution.
“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,” Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard said.
Since the beginning of 2024, HMS Trent, working closely with the US Coast Guard and the Joint Interagency Task Force (South), has seized a total of 6,995 kilograms of illegal drugs. The warship continues to patrol Caribbean waters, serving as a reassuring presence for British Overseas Territories during the hurricane season, which runs from June to November, while also working to reduce the flow of illegal cargo in the region.