Royal Navy warships have intercepted 23 tonnes of drugs that defence officials believe were being used to fund Taliban forces fighting British troops in Afghanistan. New figures reveal that seizures in the so-called 'hash highway' - the shipping lanes used by narcotics barons in the Gulf - have increased over the past five months with Navy interceptions accounting for more than 70 per cent of the total found.

Drugs seized by the frigates Chatham and Montrose and the destroyer Edinburgh include tens of millions of pounds' worth of hashish, opiates, cocaine and amphetamines.

The commander of Royal Navy forces in the region, Commodore Keith Winstanley, said: 'The scourge of illegal drugs is a vital source of funding for the Taliban warlords who seek violence against Afghan, British and Nato forces. Our mission in Afghanistan is one of absolute importance, and by seizing these drugs we have dealt a significant blow to the illegal trade.'

Some estimates indicate that hashish accounts for half the profits from the drug trade in the region. The United Nations world drug report estimates that addiction rates have almost tripled in the Arab world.