TWELVE bales of cocaine with a street value of some £28 million have been seized by helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, currently on anti-drug patrol in the Caribbean.

In the first major drug bust for the carrier, the ship’s radars picked up a small aircraft flying over the sea and sent one of its Sea King Mk 7 (Airborne Surveillance and Control) to keep an eye on the suspicious aircraft.

The 854 NAS ‘eye in the sky’, with its sophisticated array of sensors, tracked the smuggler’s plane as it slowed and dropped the bales of cocaine into the sea for a waiting boat.

As the drug-runners in the boat began to haul in the half-tonne of narcotics, a Merlin from 700M NAS dropped from the sky, causing panic in the boat below; its crew quickly abandoned its drugs pick-up mission and fled the scene.

With the US Coast Guard in close pursuit of the fleeing boat, the Merlin helicopter from RNAS Culdrose set about the task of retrieving the drug bales from the sea.

The dozen bales were taken back to the helicopter carrier where they were weighed, 480kg (just short of half a ton in old money).

Ocean’s Commanding Officer Capt Russ Harding said: “This is excellent news, particularly as it bears all the hallmarks of good teamwork.

“My ship’s company, assault squadron and air group, joined by the US Coast Guard forces, have worked closely with one another to form a really tight unit aimed at taking drugs out of the hands of smugglers and dealers.

He added: “This haul gives us confidence in the value of that teamwork, our people and the equipment which we are using and brings us much satisfaction in taking drugs off the streets.”

This latest success in the war on drugs brings the Navy’s catch to over £1 billion in the last 15 months.

Secretary of State for Defence Des Browne said: “HMS Ocean has scored a real success against the drugs trade which blights so many lives.

“Her crew deserve congratulations for their fast work and professionalism, which has kept millions of pounds worth of drugs off the streets.

“Scooping such a large haul is an impressive achievement.”