The UK Royal Navy has seized £33m-worth of cocaine from a speedboat off the coast of South America during its most recent deployment as part of a multi-national task force to counter drug smuggling in the region.

A team of US custom officers and crew from the Royal Navy’s Type 23 Frigate HMS Iron Duke seized over three-quarters of a ton of cocaine.

The ship first sent its Lynx helicopter to investigate the suspicious vessel and then deployed a boarding party for the seizure of cocaine. The boat was then destroyed after being identified as a hazard to local shipping.

The Iron Duke made a similar seizure valued at £40m last year while on patrol in the West Indies.

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