Royal Navy nets £100m cocaine haul

A Royal Navy warship has seized cocaine worth £100 million after stopping and boarding a fishing boat in the Caribbean.

The frigate HMS Grafton made the seizure on Monday after a tip–off from the US Drug Enforcement Agency, the Ministry of Defence said.

Spy planes from the Dutch air force helped to track the Venezuelan fishing boat for 450 miles before the interception off the coast of Curacao in the Dutch Antilles.

Naval officers found more than 750 kilograms of pure cocaine in a secret compartment in the vessel's engine room and arrested the six South American crew on board.

"The outstanding professionalism and teamwork of my ship's company has prevented over 750 kilograms of cocaine reaching the streets and demonstrates our continued determination to help in the war against drugs," said HMS Grafton's commanding officer, Richard Thomas.