NZ-led task force seizes giant supply of drugs in the Indian Ocean

A New Zealand-led task force caught $US26 million ($NZ38m) worth of illegal drugs in the Indian Ocean just last month.

In July, the Royal New Zealand Navy for the first time took lead of the Bahrain-based Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150), which undertakes security operations at sea outside the Arabian Gulf.

Over November, the task force – which includes Australian, Singaporean and Bahrain militaries and the United States Coast Guard personnel – seized 975kg of heroin, 523kg of methamphetamine and 4244kg of hashish.

In a statement, CTF-150 Commander Brendon Clark said the overall value of drugs seized since he took command was now more than $US46m, and rising week by week.

“By intercepting illicit drugs close to the source, we are preventing narcotics from reaching markets around the world,” Clark said.

“This stops the finances raised from illegal narcotics sales being used to fund criminal and terrorist organisations.”

The operations were ongoing, he said, and French ships had recently seized more than 1000kg of heroin.

The value of narcotics increased as they reached their ultimate destination, he said.

“From a New Zealand perspective, had the narcotics from all of the seizures made during NZ’s time in command made their way to New Zealand, they would have a street value of $1.826 billion in New Zealand dollars.”

The task force said it had been a record-breaking year for seizures, with $US189m worth of illegal drugs confiscated this year, including 6550kg of heroin, 4052kg of methamphetamine, and 56,834kg of hashish.

It was the largest amount of heroin seized since the task force was established in 2002.