Royal Marines took out a drugs boat speeding across the Gulf of Oman as frigate HMS Lancaster dealt a £35m blow to the illegal narcotics trade. Commando snipers shot the boat's engine, bringing it to an immediate stop while it was zipping over the waves at speeds in excess of 40 knots while its crew tried to ditch their illegal cargo.

The snipers took aim from a Wildcat helicopter launched from the warship to intercept three suspect craft in one of the most dramatic counter-drugs intercepts the Royal Navy has been involved with in the Middle East. This is the first time snipers have been called upon to use non-lethal force to disable a suspicious boat in the Gulf region – where typically slow-moving dhows are used to hide the illicit cargoes – unlike the Caribbean, where the tactic has

See Full Page