Marines stop £35m drug boat with 'bullseye' shot

WITH a single shot, Royal Marines took out a drugs boat speeding across the Gulf of Oman as Plymouth-based frigate HMS Lancaster dealt a £35m blow to the illegal narcotics trade.

- CATHERINE SHUTTLEWORTH

> HMS Lancaster's Wildcat helicopter and Royal Marines Boarding Team prepare to conduct a drugs seizure in the Gulf of Aden

(HMS Lancaster Crew)

HMS Lancaster has been operating out of the Royal Navy's Middle East hub in Bahrain since late 2022.

A sniper from the Royal Marines took out the engine of the drug-smuggling gang's boat with a single shot.

The Royal Navy said: "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 bullseye 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."

The Royal Navy added that this instance is the first time snipers have been called upon to use nonlethal force to disable a suspicious boat in the Gulf region.