The crew of the frigate HMAS Warramunga spent nearly three days seizing almost eight tonnes of hashish and 69 kilograms of heroin from drug smugglers in the Arabian Sea.[1][2] The ship intercepted and boarded three suspect vessels between 27 and 29 December 2017 in an operation planned by the Combined Maritime Forces’ Combined Task Force 150, then commanded by Australia with Australian and Canadian staff.[1][2]
The haul was the largest quantity of hashish seized by an Australian ship on Middle East maritime security operations.[1] The ship’s company used its helicopter and boarding crews to find and search the vessels, and the drugs were taken aboard Warramunga for later disposal at sea.[1] Commanders said the seizure would disrupt the flow of narcotics and the use of drug money to fund extremist organisations.[1]
The 69 kilograms of heroin found with the hashish is mentioned here to explain the same event and is kept out of this report’s cannabis figures.[1][2] The overall haul was estimated at about AUD$415 million for both drugs together.[1]
