THE CARIBBEAN SEA — A speedboat carrying an estimated £40 million of cocaine was stopped by a coordinated international defense effort and a single bullet from a Royal Marine sniper.


Photographs of the speedboat cruising between Puerto Rico and Venezuela were released on November 10. Officials say the vessel was packed with an estimated 1,000 kg of cocaine. A maritime patrol aircraft flying overhead spotted the suspicious-looking speedboat, and radioed it in.


A Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker, known as the Wave Knight, received the call to intercept the drug smugglers. The Wave Knight launched a helicopter to take on the chase from above. A Royal Marines sniper fired several warning shots to get the smugglers to stop. When the shot were ignored, the commando locked on target and fired a single bullet at the boat’s engine, ending the six-hour chase in an instant.


Before Coastguard officials could board the boat, the five crew members on board were seen dumping the blow as fast as they could. Onboard, 350 kg of cocaine was recovered, holding a street value of £14 million. The drug smugglers and the remaining narcotics have been turned over to U.S. authorities in Miami Beach.