British warship in record Arabian Sea methamphetamine haul

Manama, Bahrain — A British warship has seized more than 450 kilograms (around 1,000 pounds) of methamphetamines in the Arabian Sea, a record for the multi-national flotilla patrolling international waters around the Gulf.

Crew onboard the Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose confiscated the drugs from a “suspicious vessel” during a counter-narcotics operation, the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) said in a statement on Wednesday.

“This has been the most successful counter-methamphetamine operation in CMF history,” Rear Admiral Suleiman Alfakeeh of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces said in the statement.

The CMF is a joint operation by some 33 nations to patrol international waters in the Middle East and keep open some of the world’s most important shipping lanes.