Royal Marines seize 450kg of crystal meth worth nearly £100m in high seas drugs bust in Gulf 

This is the dramatic moment Royal Marines seized 450kg of crystal meth with a street value of almost £100m during a high seas drug bust in the Persian Gulf.

A heavily armed boarding party from the Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose boarded a wooden dhow and found the stash of the highly addictive drug.

The massive haul is the largest ever amount seized during the regular drug smuggling patrols carried out by a joint naval task force from 33 nations, including the US, Saudi and the UK.

The crew of HMS Montrose later posed on deck with the packages of the drugs stacked in front of them.

This is the dramatic moment Royal Marines seized 450kg of crystal meth with a street value of almost £100m during a high seas drug bust in the Persian Gulf

A heavily armed boarding party from the Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose boarded a wooden dhow and found the stash of the highly addictive drug

A heavily armed boarding party from the Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose boarded a wooden dhow and found the stash of the highly addictive drug

The crew of HMS Montrose later posed on deck with the packages of the drugs stacked in front of them

The crew of HMS Montrose later posed on deck with the packages of the drugs stacked in front of them

It is the third major drug seizure by the sailors and Marines on the frigate in recent months. In February they seized £6m worth of cannabis and last year over £1m worth of crystal meth. 

Charles Collins, commander of HMS Montrose said: ‘Every sailor and marine, airman and woman, alongside our international partners, should be proud to have contributed to the success of this operation which has undoubtedly kept millions of pounds of drugs off our streets.’  

The latest seizure took place on October 11 during stormy conditions in the Gulf making the boarding and search all the more difficult.

The drugs were well hidden on the dhow and the crew were watched over by the Marines while the search was carried out.

The Royal Marine Boarding Team’s Officer Commanding Lt Joe Martin added: ‘It was a great feeling to remove these narcotics from potentially reaching the streets, especially given the rough sea state.

‘For many of the Royal Marines in the team, this was their first operational tasking. It’s good to see all of our hard work and training come to fruition in an operational environment where we are truly making a positive impact to regional maritime security.’

A spokesman for the maritime task force did not say where the drugs had originated or their final destination.

The massive haul is the largest ever amount seized during the regular drug smuggling patrols carried out by a joint naval task force from 33 nations, including the US, Saudi and Royal Navy. The latest seizure took place on October 11 during stormy conditions in the Gulf

The massive haul is the largest ever amount seized during the regular drug smuggling patrols carried out by a joint naval task force from 33 nations, including the US, Saudi and Royal Navy. The latest seizure took place on October 11 during stormy conditions in the Gulf

The drugs were well hidden on the dhow and the crew were watched over by the Marines while the search was carried out

The drugs were well hidden on the dhow and the crew were watched over by the Marines while the search was carried out

The Royal Marine Boarding Team's Officer Commanding Lt Joe Martin said: 'It was a great feeling to remove these narcotics from potentially reaching the streets, especially given the rough sea state'

The Royal Marine Boarding Team’s Officer Commanding Lt Joe Martin said: ‘It was a great feeling to remove these narcotics from potentially reaching the streets, especially given the rough sea state’

In recent years there has been a surge in the use of methamphetamine in Iran where it is known as ‘glass.’

According to survey by UK based drug monitoring group Drugwise.org, Crystal Meth has a street value of £200 for each gram.

The HMS Montrose seizure amounted to 4,500 grams giving it a street value of more than £90m.

HMS Montrose has been on patrol in the Gulf since June on a four month deployment and taking part in Operation Sea Shield.

Photos released by the Combined Maritime Forces show the boarding party of Royal Marines speeding towards the suspicious vessel on a rigid hull boat.

After boarding the dhow the crew were kept under armed guard while a search was carried out.

The Plymouth based ship’s helicopter kept watch over the scene while the drug bust took place. 

HMS Montrose’s medical team later spent two hours decontaminating the marines and all their equipment from the threat of coronavirus.

The crew of the dhow, which was not registered to any country, were arrested.

Rear Admiral Sulieman Alfakeeh, the Saudia Arabian commader of the task force, praised the skill of the navy teams.

Photos released by the Combined Maritime Forces show the boarding party of Royal Marines speeding towards the suspicious vessel on a rigid hull boat

Photos released by the Combined Maritime Forces show the boarding party of Royal Marines speeding towards the suspicious vessel on a rigid hull boat

After boarding the dhow the crew were kept under armed guard while a search was carried out. The Plymouth based ship's helicopter kept watch over the scene while the drug bust took place

After boarding the dhow the crew were kept under armed guard while a search was carried out. The Plymouth based ship’s helicopter kept watch over the scene while the drug bust took place

‘This has been the most successful counter-methamphetamine operation in CMF history,’ he said.

‘I commend the hard work and team effort of all of our CMF partners, especially CTF 150 and HMS Montrose, who have worked together to make this historic seizure happen.’

Navy ships from 33 nations are on constant patrol in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman to disrupt drug smuggling and piracy.