Royal Marines in a helicopter from HMS Iron Duke opened fire to stop a fleeing speedboat strongly suspected by international law enforcement agencies of being involved in Caribbean drug smuggling. The commando marksmen on board the Lynx aircraft at first fired warning shots after the 40 mph ‘Go Fast’ vessel ignored radio and visual warnings to halt. When it still continued to flee, the Royal Marines employed ‘Non-Lethal Disabling Fire’, aiming five rounds at the vessel’s engine block and successfully disabling the engine and stopping the boat.
Iron Duke had been on maritime security patrol 110 miles north of the Venezuela-Colombia coast on the afternoon of Friday, July 18, when she became aware that the Go Fast was loitering in the area. At the time, the ship’s Lynx was preparing to get airborne on a training flight and was diverted to investigate.
Despite the Go Fast’s crew attempting to avoid detection by spreading a tarpaulin to camouflage the 30ft vessel, the Lynx located it after a 15-minute search. The boat was fired on as a last resort, the Royal Marines using high-power long range rifles to successfully disable it.
When Iron Duke arrived on the scene, the three crew members were taken on board and the Go Fast sunk on the authority of the US Coast Guard team on board the frigate. They found traces of cocaine on two of the three men. As they were Colombians they were eventually transferred to the Colombian authorities.
While no cocaine was found on board the vessel or in the sea, the US Coast Guard knows that it is common practice for drug smugglers to ditch their illicit cargoes in an attempt to avoid prosecution.
The incident, which spanned 48 hours, was the second anti-drugs success for the Portsmouth-based warship. Last month she seized 0.9 tonnes of cocaine from another Go Fast vessel. During these early stages of her Caribbean deployment, in between sustained periods of counter-drugs patrols, she has also stopped a vessel smuggling fuel, assisted a fishing vessel in danger of sinking and has tracked four tropical storms or hurricanes as well as conducting training with local authorities in disaster relief on the island of Montserrat.
The Commanding Officer of HMS Iron Duke, Commander Mark Newland, said today:
“This first 30-day patrol of our Caribbean deployment has been an enormous success. My ship’s company are elated at again disrupting the activities of suspected drug-runners.”
“The skill and professionalism of my helicopter crew, and in particular the young Royal Marines who fired the rounds to stop the Go Fast is an indication of the talents that lie within the Naval Service.”
Source: Ministry of Defence
Net News Publisher for World News
