LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Royal Marine snipers disabled a drugs boat speeding across the Gulf of Oman as frigate HMS Lancaster dealt a blow to the vessel carrying 35 million pounds worth of illegal narcotics on board.
Commando snipers brought the 'skiff '- zipping over the waves at speeds in excess of 40 knots while its crew tried to ditch their illegal cargo - to an immediate halt with a bulls eye shot to knock out the boat's engine.
The snipers took aim from a Wildcat helicopter launched from the warship to intercept three suspect craft in one of the most dramatic counter-drugs intercepts the Royal Navy has been involved with in the Middle East.
More than one-and-a-half tons of drugs were recovered in all - heroin, crystal methamphetamine and hashish with an estimated UK street value in excess of £35 million pounds, according to the UK Ministry of Defense.
This is the first time snipers have been called upon to use non-lethal force to disable a suspicious boat in the Gulf region - where typically slow-moving dhows are used to hide the illicit cargoes - unlike the Caribbean, where the tactic has proved effective on several occasions.
The operation began when HMS Lancaster launched her Wildcat from 815 Naval Air Squadron on a dawn patrol over the Gulf of Oman.
Her crew soon picked up three suspicious skiffs travelling at speed - and secretly shadowed them while relaying critical information back to the warship.
That allowed Lancaster to launch her Peregrine mini-helicopter drone to continue monitoring the skiffs - again undetected - providing a live video feed to the ship's operations room.
Meanwhile, the Wildcat returned to refuel and embark a Maritime Sniper Team from 42 Commando - the Royal Marines' specialists in boarding operations - to close in for the interception.
When the helicopter appeared over the skiffs, their crews immediately increased speed to more than 40 knots and began hurling their cargo into the water to reduce weight.
Ultimately, it led to two of the skiffs being abandoned - but not the third which persisted in trying to get away.
At this point, the marines targeted the outboard engine, neutralizing it with a single round, while crew of the warship's sea boat recovered the discarded packages and located a partially-submerged abandoned skiff.
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