Cocaine worth around £20m has been seized from drugs smugglers in the Caribbean thanks to effort of fleet tanker RFA Wave Knight and American Coast Guard forces.

Around a tonne of the Class A drug was ditched into the sea by the smugglers once they realised they were being chased by the tanker and a US Coast Guard helicopter.

The smugglers’ boat was spotted about 35 miles from Wave Knight, which was operating more than 100 miles north of Colombia’s Caribbean coastline.

Wave Knight was working alongside the US Coast Guard cutter Tampa, and was carrying a Coast Guard HH-65 helicopter.

Although the British auxiliary ship could not keep up with the smugglers’ speedboat, the helicopter was able to keep up the pursuit.

As the smugglers sped away, they ditched the cocaine overboard, and Wave Knight’s crew picked them up from the sea up in its wake.

The RFA sailors recovered 26 bales – weighing more than a tonne in all – with a street value of around US $30m-35m.

The smugglers’ boat itself disappeared into Colombian waters, where it managed to evade the authorities, but the interception prevented their drugs reaching their destination.

US authorities believe the cocaine was intended either for the streets of the USA or UK.

Wave Knight’s Commanding Officer, Capt Alan Roach, said his ship and crew had been “instrumental” in stopping the drugs reaching the open market.

“This operation was a great example of UK-US co-operation in the war against drugs and we’re all proud of the role that the RFA is playing in this area,” he added.

His ship has been on patrol in the Caribbean throughout the winter, working first alongside destroyer HMS Manchester and now Type 23 frigate HMS Monmouth, the present West Indies Guard Ship.