The Lynx Mark 8, Flight 203, has returned to Royal UK Naval Air Station Yeovilton following a 6 month embarkation in HMS Somerset which saw them assist in discovering 55 kilograms of heroin, street value £8.5 million.
The Aircrew have now been away from home for 6 months embarked in HMS Somerset a Plymouth-based Type 23 frigate, which supported the international crack down on drugs headed up by a Command Task Force.
HMS Somerset’s crew found the dhow – a type of vessel common to the Middle East and Indian Ocean – during an operation for the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) counter-terrorism Combined Task Force (CTF) 150.
203 Flight Lynx helicopter was launched from HMS Somerset to intercept the dhow and guide the boarding team to its exact location.
Once on board, the Royal Navy team worked tirelessly to find the contraband’s hiding place, stashed under a false deck.
The discovery of 55 kilograms of heroin on one particular dhow was part of a routine surface search on 23rd May 14.
Combined Task Force 150 is one of three international naval task forces operating under the CMF banner in the Middle East, which aim to counter terrorism and piracy across more than 2.5 million square miles of ocean.