Royal Marines joined US and UK crime-fighters as they gear up for a summer tackling drug trafficking in the Middle East.
Commandos who specialise in board-and-search operations sharpened their skills alongside the US Navy’s NCIS and Britain’s National Crime Agency ahead of sweeps of the Indian Ocean over the next four months in HMS Montrose.
The frigate – based for more than three years in Bahrain – has recently completed her latest crew swap to sustain those operations, with the entire team of sailors and Royal Marines exchanged like-for-like with a team from the UK.
The outgoing Port crew proved particularly successful – three busts in quick succession, seizing 7½ tonnes of hashish, 813kg of heroin and 337kg of methamphetamine (crystal meth).
Permanently assigned to the frigate is a boarding team from 42 Commando whose job is to secure suspicious vessels, allowing sailors to conduct a safe, thorough search for any illegal cargo.
Large quantities of heroin, methamphetamine and hashish are smuggled across the Indian Ocean – the route across the Gulf of Oman, past the Horn of Africa and into the Red Sea has been dubbed the ‘hashish highway’ – much of which will likely reach the United Kingdom.
An international effort is committed to stopping the flow of drugs, from the multi-national naval force which Montrose joins when sweeping through the Indian Ocean, to agencies such as the NCA and the US Naval Criminal Investigative Service sharing intelligence and the US Coast Guard, which conducts similar operations.
The commandos set to work on both minehunter HMS Bangor and a dhow at the US Coast Guard’s board-and-search training facility.
Aside from the tactics, the NCA’s international liaison officer in Bahrain, Kevin Dawson, outlined the ‘big picture’ to underline the impact of drugs seizures in the Indian Ocean.
“Searching a dhow is a long, dirty process in what can be uncomfortable circumstances, many thousands of miles from home. Being able to highlight how this will have a positive impact on our communities back in the UK was especially important,” he explained.
“I was pleased to be able to give the Royal Marines Boarding Team the UK context to what they will be doing.”
The NCA tackles drug trafficking at every stage of the supply chain from the source country to narcotics being sold on the streets. The partnership between the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, NCA and NCIS provides an opportunity to interdict illegal drugs before they can impact the UK and its allies.
“Delivering joint training in theatre on search techniques and considerations enables UK and US law enforcement to pass on our collective knowledge and experience, to enhance the team’s existing skills,” Kevin added.
Lieutenant Chris Bonnick RM, in charge of Montrose’s Port crew commando boarding team, said the marines were raring to get to work with the frigate now they’d completed preparations.
“We’ve been training hard in the UK and in Bahrain to allow us to build on the successes of Starboard crew,” he added.
“Working with key partners here in Bahrain, we have built closer international ties for the Royal Navy and developed other forces’ boarding capabilities alongside our own. We are looking forward to getting stuck into life onboard and putting our capabilities to the test over the months ahead.”
