Drug hunter: The crew of the RFA Wave Knight will be here for a three-day rest and relaxation stop before heading home to the UK. *Photo Open Government Licence / Christine Wood
Homeward bound: Naval support ship RFA Wave Knight will call into Bermuda for a spot of rest and relaxation at the end of this week. It will be a well deserved rest for the crew who have been involved in a series of high-profile drug busts in the Caribbean over the last few months. *Image by Christine wood; © Crown Copyright
Seized: Personnel in a seaboat from RFA Wave Knight escort the suspected drug carrying vessel Miss Kameney in the Caribbean. A Naval support ship Royal Fleet Auxiliary Wave Knight seized marijuana with a street value of around £1million from a suspect vessel in the Caribbean. The ship, which had a US Coastguard Law Enforcement and Royal Navy personnel on board, chased the suspect vessel — called Miss Kameney — under cover of darkness on Boxing Day. The US Coast Guard officers then boarded the boat and found a quarter of a tonne of marijuana hidden in sacks. The crew of five were then detained on RFA Wave Knight to be delivered to US authorities in the Dominican Republic while a joint riding crew of US Coast Guard and Royal Fleet Auxiliary drove the Miss Kameney and her illegal cargo to be delivered alongside the suspected smugglers. *Image by royal navy, MOD, © Crown Copyright
Haul: Bales of drugs from the suspect vessel Miss Tiffany. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary Naval Support Ship RFA Wave Knight was again in action against Caribbean narcotic traffickers resulting in another successful take-down of a suspect fishing vessel. In a multi-agency operation involving UK and US assets, a suspected vessel, Miss Tiffany, was detected in the Central Caribbean and a decision taken to launch one of Wave Knight’s boats to investigate. Soon after arrival, and upon hailing the vessel, the crew was seen jettisoning a number of suspect packages overboard. Wave Knight’s previous record for boat preparation was ‘smashed’ in the urgency to launch the embarked US Law Enforcement Detachment. With multiple bales now being jettisoned and an urgent need to stop the fishing vessel, the decision was taken to immediately launch the second boat to help recover the weighted bales before they sank. A total of 55 bales were eventually recovered from the sea. *Image © Crown Copyright