The vessel has been on an anti drug smuggling patrol in the Caribbean
RFA Mounts Bay scores pound;40m drugs bust 07 February 2020
Forty million pounds of cocaine will never reach the streets after a combined Anglo-French-American bust in the Caribbean which snared a drug-running team.
Support ship RFA Mounts Bay and a US Coastguard team pounced on two speedboats as they raced through open seas south of the US Virgin Islands.
They seized 1.4 tonnes of illegal narcotics ndash; which turned out to be cocaine, worth more than pound;35m.
The traffickers managed to ditch 150kg of drugs in the Caribbean before they were intercepted ndash; ensuring another pound;3.75m of cocaine wonrsquo;t be sold.
ldquo;Thanks to the work of the Royal Navy and our US partners these narcotics will not reach the streets and fuel further criminality,rdquo; said Armed Forces Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan.
ldquo;RFA Mounts Bay has had a varied deployment, from leading the response to Hurricane Dorian to stopping the illicit drugs trade. This is a timely reminder of the diverse work undertaken by our Armed Forces that helps keep us safe.rdquo;