Kiwi navy seizes massive drug caches in anti-piracy mission

The crew of a New Zealand navy frigate have seized 257 kilograms of heroin valued at 235 million NZ dollars (164.4 million U.S. dollars) during a counter-piracy mission in the western Indian Ocean, the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) said Tuesday.

HMNZS Te Kaha was working with the Combined Maritime Forces ( CMF), a U.S.-led naval partnership, when a boarding party made the first find on 139 1-kg bags on June 8, NZDF Maritime Component Commander Commodore John Campbell said in a statement.

The bags were hidden in compartments on a medium-sized dhow that the Te Kaha had been monitoring the previous night because it was suspected of being stateless.

On June 13, Te Kaha crew members boarded another dhow, also suspected of being stateless, and they discovered another 118 kg of heroin after a seven-hour search.

In both cases, the vessels and their crew were released after the drugs were seized.

In the same operation, Australian navy frigate HMAS Newcastle found 724 kg of drugs worth an estimated 660 million NZ dollars ( 461.54 million U.S. dollars).

Altogether the CMF had seized 981 kg of heroin since May.

Campbell said the haul was a great outcome for international security.

"The seizure of these drugs has also contributed to the CMF's efforts to staunch the flow of funds for terrorist activities in the Middle East region and internationally," he said.

"These drugs were bound for Africa and eventually Europe. Our contribution thus assisted the security of both of these regions."

The Te Kaha had intercepted and searched seven other dhows during patrols off the Horn of Africa and Madagascar in the past five weeks.

The CMF is a 30-nation naval partnership led by the United States that seeks to defeat terrorism, prevent piracy and the illegal trafficking of people and drugs.

It conducts maritime security operations to prevent terrorists from using the seas to launch an attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other illicit materials. Endi