The Pakistan Navy (PN) led Combined Task Force (CTF-150) recently completed Surge Operations in the Arabian Sea seizing and destroying over 5,500 Kgs of Narcotics which included, Heroin, Meth and Hashish.
CTF150 is a multi-national organization where warships from Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) member nations come together to help maintain maritime security throughout the Middle East region. Commodore Alveer Ahmed Noor, PN, Commander of CTF 150 said “The Pakistan Navy command team and participating units are helping to maintain maritime security throughout the region. The deployment of CTF-150 units during surge operations has proved instrumental in the successful seizure of sizable amount of narcotics.
On 3 May 2019 HMCS Regina started the surge operation success with the first seizure of narcotics discovering over 2,000 kg of hashish hidden in a dhow. For HMCS Regina’s crew, this marked their 4th seizure since arriving in the region, (9,155 kg of narcotics in all so far). Commander Jake French, Commanding Officer HMCS Regina said “ This seizure is another example of just how much illicit smuggling is occurring in these waters, and the importance of the Combined Maritime Forces coalition in deterring and denying terrorist activities in the maritime domain. I’m extremely proud of my ship’s company for an outstanding job. Our success validates the hard work of all onboard to ensure that we had the right training and equipment to achieve these results.”
Following this, French ship (FS) Floréal made another three seizures which included 4,800 Kg’s of cannabis resin, 650 Kg of cannabis, 5.7 Kg of methamphetamine and finally 1.3 kg of heroin. These latest seizures by the French Navy in support of CTF 150 demonstrates the high level of cooperation that exists across coalition partners in stopping illegal smuggling across the area of operations.
Finally, it was the turn of HMAS Ballarat, the Australian warship identified and tracked a suspicious dhow transiting the area of operations. Following the decision to board the suspicious dhow the HMAS Ballarat boarding team carried out a detailed search where they found and seized 135.1kg of heroin.
All the Narcotics seized were destroyed at sea where the search for illegal activities and stopping the smuggling of illegal Narcotics continues.
Summing up the latest successful surge operations, Commodore Noor said. “I am very happy with the results of our recent operations. The professionalism displayed by all the units out at sea and members of the Pakistan Navy serving at the CTF 150 headquarters is a hallmark of successful combine operations”
Source: combinedmaritimeforces.com
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March 15, 2023 No Comments
