HMAS Ballarat seizes 3.1 tonnes of hashish in Arabian Sea
The frigate HMAS Ballarat, operating under Combined Task Force 150, boarded a dhow in the northern Arabian Sea on 8 January 2019 and seized 3,100 kg of hashish worth about A$155 million, its third drugs haul in just over two weeks.
🇦🇺 Northern Arabian Sea, international waters · Australia
Cannabis
3.1 t
Value (official estimate)
AUD 155,000,000
The Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat found and destroyed 3,100 kg of hashish during a night-time boarding of a dhow late on 8 January 2019.[1]Operating under the Canadian-led Combined Task Force 150, the frigate was patrolling the “Hash Highway”, the stretch of the northern Arabian Sea where dhows move drugs toward their markets.[1][2]
The boarding party discovered the narcotics hidden in void spaces around the vessel.[1]The haul, worth about A$155 million, was the ship’s third drugs seizure in just over two weeks and the task force’s sixth since the current team took command on 6 December 2018.[1][2]The commanding officer said the seizure reflected a continued narcotics trade with the potential to fund terrorist groups across the region.[1]
A fishing vessel believed to be engaged in illegal activity had been directed to submit to a flag-verification boarding in international waters.[2]The seized hashish was laid out on the frigate’s flight deck and then prepared for disposal at sea.[1]
Photos and video
HMAS Ballarat's boarding party lays out the seized hashish on the flight deck. Source: Combined Maritime ForcesHMAS Ballarat's boarding party and crew prepare the seized hashish for disposal. Source: Combined Maritime Forces
The boarding took place in international waters on a stated counter-terrorism patrol, so the pin is a regional reference for the northern Arabian Sea rather than an exact site.
The crew of the dhow and any arrests were not described in the opened sources.
The direct photo addresses recovered from the article page no longer serve the images, so the two photos remain links.
Strike Force Harthouse detectives raided a rural property at Dandry in January 2022, seizing more than 19,000 cannabis plants valued at about A$66.8 million. Six people aged 23 to 42 were arrested and charged over what police called the biggest cannabis bust on the New South Wales record.
The frigate HMAS Warramunga boarded three suspect vessels in the Arabian Sea between 27 and 29 December 2017 and seized almost eight tonnes of hashish. The Australian Defence Force called it the largest hashish seizure by an Australian ship on Middle East operations.
The frigate HMAS Darwin, working under British-led Combined Task Force 150, boarded a dhow in the Indian Ocean on 28 June 2014 and found 6,248 kg of cannabis resin hidden in its hull after a search of more than 12 hours. The haul, valued at about 18 million pounds, was the largest maritime hashish seizure in the Indian Ocean to date.
HMAS Melbourne and PNS Alamgir, operating under Combined Maritime Forces task force CTF-150, boarded a dhow east of Masirah Island, Oman on 13 February 2014 and seized 1,951 kg of cannabis resin hidden in its fishing hold, estimated to be worth about A$113 million.
