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Australian warship seizes 449 kg of heroin off Somalia


Thursday, May 15,2014

The 449kg of heroin (pictured) was concealed in 20 bags seized by HMAS Darwin off the coast of Somalia
The 449kg of heroin (pictured) was concealed in 20 bags seized by HMAS Darwin off the coast of Somalia

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NAIROBI, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Australian naval warship said Thursday it has seized 449 kilogram of heroin with an estimated street value of 123 million U.S. dollars off the coast of Somalia.

A statement from the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) said the drug haul was discovered on board a vessel in international waters, about 40 nautical miles off the East African coast.

"HMAS Darwin's crew located the vessel on Monday evening, during a CMF operation conducting maritime security operations in the Indian Ocean to deter terrorism and to promote peace and security in the area," CMF said in the statement.

HMAS Darwin is attached to Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150), one of three task forces operated by CMF, a multinational naval partnership of 30 nations based in Bahrain.

The statement said the illegal narcotics interception was part of a determined multinational campaign by maritime forces to disrupt drug smuggling in the Indian Ocean, profits from which are known to provide funding for terrorist organizations including Al- Qaida and the Taliban.

HMAS Darwin's Commanding Officer, Commander Terry Morrison said the seizure removed a major source of funding for terrorist and criminal networks.

"I am very proud of the hard work and determination of the ship's company in HMAS Darwin during a particularly long and challenging interdiction," Commander Morrison said.

"Due to the hard work of many previous ships deploying to this region, we have been very successful in intercepting illegal narcotics smuggling."

He said one of HMAS Darwin's rigid hull inflatable boats transported the heroin from the boarded vessel back to the ship for further analysis and destruction.

In April, HMAS Darwin recorded the largest ever amount of heroin seized from a vessel on the high seas, which consisted of 1, 032 kilograms of heroin.

"This is the seventh significant seizure by the CMF this year, representing a further blow to the drug smuggling network," Commodore Jeremy Blunden, Royal Navy, Commander of CTF 150 said.

 





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