Heroin and hashish worth close to half a billion dollars has been seized by the Royal Australian Navy in three ships stationed in the Arabian Sea.

Warship HMAS Warramunga seized almost eight tonnes of hashish and 69 kilograms of heroin from three ships between December 27 and 29.

The record haul of drugs, worth around $415 million overall, would have been sent across the globe by the alleged smugglers, the Department of Defence claimed.

Heroin and hashish worth close to half a billion dollars has been seized by the Royal Australian Navy

The huge haul of drugs were seized from three ships stationed in the Arabian Sea

The record haul of drugs, worth around $415 million overall, would have been sent across the globe by the alleged smugglers

'The operation will impact on the flow of narcotics around the world and the use of drug money to fund extremist organisations,' the Commander of Australian Forces in the Middle East, Major General John Frewen, said in a statement on Saturday.

'These drug seizures support Australia's long-term mission to ensure maritime security and stability in the region,' he added.

The operation was months in the making, co-ordinated by the Combined Maritime Forces and supported by Australian and Canadian staff.

It's largest haul of hashish seized by an Australian ship in Middle East maritime security operations.

Warship HMAS Warramunga seized almost eight tonnes of hashish and 69 kilograms of heroin from three ships between December 27 and 29

The Royal Australian Navy worked through the night during the delicate operation

The operation was months in the making, co-ordinated by the Combined Maritime Forces and supported by Australian and Canadian staff

Commanding Officer HMAS Warramunga, Commander Dugald Clelland RAN, said the operation was the result of months of hard work by the ship's company.

'The crew prepared extensively for a task like this and we were able to employ our helicopter and boarding crews to locate and board three suspect vessels.

'A thorough search by the boarding parties uncovered a large quantity of hashish and heroin intended for distribution around the world,' Commander Clelland said.

The illegal drugs will be disposed at sea at a later date.