NAVY NEWS, NOVEMBER 2009 3
● Fire by night... drugs boat MV Cristal burns after Iron Duke is ordered to sink her
Anatomy of a drugs bust
£240m of Class A drugs will never reach
And that meant bringing up 4,000 tonnes of a dry bilge was discovered that had not been used ship’s company got stuck in to bring those 5½
these shores – or any others – thanks
sleek grey messenger of death. Iron Duke closed for some time. There were also some tanks lids tonnes of cocaine on board in little more than half
to the biggest victory in the history of
in on the Cristal and was given permission to that had been removed recently. an hour.
board. “When sealed bags which looked like bales And now the Lynx and gunners took centre
counter-narcotics patrols by the Royal With the Lynx covering the fi shing vessel, the of cocaine were discovered, we stepped up our stage. First the maritime sniper team was given
Navy.
sea boats were launched with the US Coast Guard observation of the crew – they knew that once the the chance to use its weapons against a live target
The combined efforts of HMS Iron Duke, her
Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) embarked drugs were discovered the game was up. before the ship’s company fi red up the guns.
Lynx, support ship RFA Fort George and a US
to conduct a search. “We kept an eye on the captain and his fi rst “We launched with 600 rounds of 12.7mm link
Coast Guard boarding team bagged 5½ tonnes of
During the initial search bales were found in mate; the former started crying and wandering for my beast of a machine gun (the M3M) and
cocaine off the South American coast.
one of the ballast tanks through a small access around the ship. This was about 4.30am – some 12 armour piercing 0.5inch rounds for the L/Cpl’s
The victim was the MV Cristal, a battered 138ft
cover; samples tested by the Coast Guards hohours after we fi rst boarded the MV Cristal. AW50 sniper rifl e,” said Mne Brady.
fishing boat ploughing a well-worn traffickers
proved to be cocaine. This triggered a morre AtAt fi rst light – after we had searched the “Equipped with his deadly Mk3 eyeball, he
route.
extensive search: to recover the drugs gs rerest of the ship – it was our turn to get our landed precise sniper fi re on to the Cristal causing
But don’t take our word for it. Take the word of
already found and to see if there were any y hheads down.” her some damage.
the team aboard the Type 23 frigate (for very good
more hidden in any of the other ballast Hidden in the ballast tanks under a layer “It was now the M3M’s turn. I loaded up the .5
security reasons, the names have been changed
tanks. of concrete were 212 separate bales of and began raining down lead from overhead. It lit
to protect their identities – apart from the CO).
The second-in-command of Iron cocaine weighing approximately 26kg her up like Christmas had come early. A beautiful
“The day started as pretty much any other day
Duke’s boarding team, PO Dickie each. Totalling around 5½ tonnes, this sight and we were well pleased to do our bit for
on drugs patrol,” said Mne Andy Brady, one of the
Davies, was one of the fi rst to go over: was the largest seizure of cocaine in RN the safety of any container ships passing through
Royal Marines maritime sniper team from Fleet
“I was tasked with providing cover history and although its destination was the area.
Protection Group RM. “I and the lance corporal
for the detainees while the LEDET began unknown, had it reached the UK it would “Once our rounds were expended we sat off the
were briefed for fl ying so we were ready to deploy
their search. Two of us got kitted up and have been worth £240 million pounds Cristal to enjoy the rest of the show: Iron Duke had
at 15 minutes notice should any suspicious vessels
were put in the sea boat to make our way – quite something for a boat that had ‘no some 4.5inch and 30mm rounds to fi nish the job
present themselves.
about 1,000 yards from the ship to the MV drugs’ stencilled on the side... of sending her to the depths which proved to be
“The pilot and fl ight commander had all the pre-
Cristal’s location – she was still being driven by With the search of the Cristal well under way, more than enough. The job was complete and our
fl ight checks to do while I and the L/Cpl prepped
her crew. Before our arrival, the crew had been Iron Duke conducted a RAS with RFA Fort George team were left extremely proud to have played a
the weapons and ammunition which could well
compliant and were allowed to move freely about to provide a welcome top up of fuel for the Iron part in what showed to be the largest drugs bust
be needed for a potential takedown. We then
the ship. Duke. in naval history.”
launched in search of what would later become
“As the team started a systematic search of For the next few days, the frigate escorted the Cristal was Iron Duke’s third bust in as many
known to us as the MV Cristal.”
the vessel – emptying tanks and opening lockers Cristal but it became increasingly apparent that months – and by far the most signifi cant.
When the 815 NAS Lynx arrived over the Cristal,
around the ship – nothing was found and by she was in a poor state of repair, breaking down “This is our job and we are good at it,” said CO
its crew found “a large fi shing vessel in quite a state
midnight (fi ve hours into the boarding) fatigue was repeatedly, fi nally losing all power; she could not Cdr Andrew Stacey proudly. “This bust surpasses
of disrepair with a crew that didn’t in the slightest
setting in, so we grabbed a Mars bar and had a be restarted. anything we’ve had – and anything the Navy has
seem occupied with something as mundane as
huddle to decide our next plan of action. The decision was taken that she was a hazard had.
fi shing,” says Mne Brady.
“As the team looked at the ship’s drawing, the to shipping and the ship was directed to sink her. “It’s the largest drug bust by value and volume
“As our armed-to-the-teeth helicopter hovered
dimension of the bilges and tanks weren’t adding Iron Duke brought the Cristal alongside to embark in terms of cocaine. It is a massive blow for the
alongside, one Cristal crew member didn’t even
up, so the LEDET looked into the hold which was the detained crew and the narcotics under the narcotics industry.”
feel the need to move from his hammock. This
fi lled with crates of drinks. custody of the US LEDET. The ship continues her anti-drugs/support to
vessel was obviously suspicious, so we followed
“In 90°F heat the team shifted the crates to gain With one of the most unusual ‘Clear Lower Deck the Caribbean patrol for another month before
procedure for boarding.”
access to the wooden decking. After removing it, – Store Ship’ you will ever see, almost the entire returning to Portsmouth in time for Christmas.
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