ROYAL NAVY'S UKP100M COCAINE BUST

The Royal Navy Has Busted a Drug-Smuggling Fishing Boat in the Caribbean
and Seized Cocaine Worth Ukp100m

In one of the Navy's biggest ever seizures, HMS Grafton tracked the drug
runners' boat off Venezuela.

Spy planes and the warship closed in on the suspicious boat after a tip-off
from the US drugs agency.

British, American and Dutch aircraft were involved in the sea search for
the boat, the Genesis, but it was the British frigate which pinpointed its
location.

After questioning the boat's crew by radio and seeking permission from the
Venezuelan government to board it, a detachment of US Coastguards assigned
to the Grafton seized the Genesis.

After a lengthy search a secret compartment was uncovered containing 14
bails, around 750kg, of high-grade cocaine.

The naval officers knew the boat's crew had to be hiding something because
they had no ice or fish on board.

Scuttle Plan

"After measurements were taken, we discovered a compartment inside the
boat's hidden wall, and the cocaine bails inside," logistics officer
Lieutenant Commander Donald Walker told the Mirror newspaper.

"That was quite a sight."

Lt Cmdr Walker described how the crew tried to scuttle the boat by flicking
a hidden switch.

"It was a long, difficult and tense operation, but very rewarding," he told
the newspaper.

Drug Gangs

The drugs and crew were brought aboard the British warship.

Both will be handed over to the Venezuelan authorities when the ship docks
on Thursday.

It is the biggest haul of illicit drugs by a British warship since 1999,
when another vessel recovered cocaine worth UKP1bn.

South American drug gangs use the Caribbean islands as staging posts on the
way to North America and Europe.

The Royal Navy believes its efforts are making this harder.

Lt Cmdr Walker told the Mirror: "It may be just a small dent to their
empires but it will make a difference."