CANUCK WARSHIP SEIZES DRUG VESSEL

HMCS Toronto Boards Sailing Boat In Arabian Sea, Finds Two Tonnes Of Hashish

OTTAWA -- A Canadian warship patrolling the Arabian Sea seized a vessel
carrying an estimated two tonnes of hashish and later teamed with an
American ship to sink the smuggler in an impromptu target practice.

HMCS Toronto was in international waters off Pakistan Wednesday, watching
for suspected terrorists trying to flee the region, when she sighted a
dhow, a traditional wooden sailing vessel, towing a speedboat.

As the frigate approached, two men jumped from the dhow into the speedboat
and took off. The speedboat quickly outran Toronto, so the warship turned
back to investigate the dhow, which was chugging in slow circles.

Thats a hazard to navigation, so we decided to board her, Cmdr. Ian
Paterson, the Torontos captain, said yesterday.

A five-member boarding party clambered aboard the 15-metre boat and found
that one of the holds held 20 packages about the size of concrete blocks,
each wrapped in blue plastic.

They cut one open and found it stuffed with bricks of hash, each stamped
with the words Freedom for Afghanistan.

We brought back two of the bags and they weighed 50 pounds apiece, Paterson
said.

The captain was worried about booby traps and told his crew to keep out of
a second hold, which was stacked with similar packages. He estimated there
were 70 to 90 packages, all told.

The Canadian frigate reported its find to the American naval commander in
charge, put a line on the dhow and towed it south overnight.

Yesterday morning, Toronto and her prize met the American cruiser USS Leyte
Gulf, and they were ordered to sink the vessel with its cargo.

The ships took turns blasting the vessel. Toronto used her main armament, a
57-mm cannon. Leyte Gulf fired heavy machine guns.

They chewed at the vessel for two hours before it sank in flames.

Torontos shells left the dhow awash, but the cruiser put it down.

Wooden vessels are amazingly robust, Paterson said. You can hit it with a
shell, and frequently the shell will pass right through, but the wood stays
afloat.