In a scene that could have been lifted from a Hollywood screenplay, a British warship and an American patrol aircraft chased down a speedboat as its crew tried to flee and dump its cargo of drugs into the water near the U.S. Virgin Islands, officials announced Monday.
British sailors on HMS Trent and a U.S. Coast Guard team eventually intercepted the alleged drug-smuggling boat and recovered about 6,000 pounds of cocaine and other drugs, the U.K.'s Ministry of Defence said in a news release.
“During a high-speed chase, the smugglers tried to offload their illegal cargo, but Royal Marines coxswains and the USCG boarding team closed in, took control of the vessel, and detained four crew members,” the ministry said.
After the boat was intercepted, the HMS Trent crew scoured 24 square miles of the Caribbean Sea south of the U.S. Virgin Islands for 10 hours, eventually retrieving almost 2,000 pounds of cocaine, officials said.
“Despite their best efforts to evade us, they finally gave up the chase and we were able to get alongside and enable members of the U.S. Coast Guard to seize the vessel,” said the Marine who could not be named for operational reasons.
Officials did not disclose exactly when the seizure was made or where the alleged drugs were coming from but many of the narcotics trafficked in the Caribbean Sea originate in South America — especially Colombia, which produces about 60% of the cocaine found in the world.
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In a scene that could have been lifted from a Hollywood screenplay, a British warship and an American patrol aircraft chased down a speedboat as its crew tried to flee and dump its cargo of drugs into the water near the U.S. Virgin Islands, officials announced Monday.
British sailors on HMS Trent and a U.S. Coast Guard team eventually intercepted the alleged drug-smuggling boat and recovered about 6,000 pounds of cocaine and other drugs, the U.K.'s Ministry of Defence said in a news release.
“During a high-speed chase, the smugglers tried to offload their illegal cargo, but Royal Marines coxswains and the USCG boarding team closed in, took control of the vessel, and detained four crew members,” the ministry said.
After the boat was intercepted, the HMS Trent crew scoured 24 square miles of the Caribbean Sea south of the U.S. Virgin Islands for 10 hours, eventually retrieving almost 2,000 pounds of cocaine, officials said.
“Despite their best efforts to evade us, they finally gave up the chase and we were able to get alongside and enable members of the U.S. Coast Guard to seize the vessel,” said the Marine who could not be named for operational reasons.
Officials did not disclose exactly when the seizure was made or where the alleged drugs were coming from but many of the narcotics trafficked in the Caribbean Sea originate in South America — especially Colombia, which produces about 60% of the cocaine found in the world.
The original article contains 457 words, the summary contains 244 words. Saved 47%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!