A Royal Fleet Auxilliary ship has intercepted £40m of cocaine after a dramatic six-hour chase in the Caribbean.

The RFA Wave Knight was called into action after a patrol plane spotted a suspicious speedboat in the sea between Puerto Rico and Venezuela on Thursday.

The 31,500-tonne Wave Knight entered the chase, also launching her Lynx helicopter.

Sitting in the back of the Royal Navy helicopter was a sniper from the Royal Marines who fired warning shots and, after these were ignored, fired shots that took out the speedboat's engines.

The speedboat was brought to a halt and the US Coast Guard boarded and seized 350kg of cocaine.


A spokesman for the Royal Navy said the drugs would have been worth about £14m if they had reached the UK.

Image: The speedboat had ignored warning shots from the sniper. Pic: Royal Navy

Before the officials had reached the speedboat, however, the boat's crew were seen throwing what was later estimated to be another 650kg of cocaine worth around £26m.

The five crew from the speedboat were taken with the drugs onto the US Coast Guard cutter Richard Etheridge and handed over to authorities in Miami Beach.

Captain Nigel Budd, Wave Knight's commanding officer said: "This seizure highlights how effectively the US Coast Guard, we and our allies are working together to disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks that depend on the flow of illicit drugs from South America into the United States, the Caribbean, and Europe."

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a civilian-manned fleet tasked with providing worldwide logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy.

Thursday's operation was a combined effort between the RFA, Royal Navy and US Coast Guard.