Sh22b hashish haul impounded off Somalia coast
Members of HMAS Toowoomba's boarding party teams with 5.6 tonnes of cannabis resin intercepted during a boarding in support of Operation Manitou. PHOTO | COURTESY
A joint Australian and New Zealand maritime patrol has impounded 5,588kgs of Hashish off the coast of Somalia estimated to be worth 280 million AUD (Ksh22 billion) after trailing a dhow from the Arabian Sea.
"A Royal Australian Navy warship operating under command of Pakistan Navy-led Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150), part of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), supported by a Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) maritime patrol aircraft, coordinated their efforts this week to strike a blow against hashish traffickers off the coast of Somalia to the tune of $280 million (AUD)," a statement by the Combined Maritime Forces said.
"The Anzac-class frigate HMAS Toowoomba and the RNZAF P-3K2 Orion aircraft trailed a dhow from the Arabian Sea to the Horn of Africa. After four days of inclement weather, the crew of HMAS Toowoomba were able to board the dhow and, after an exhaustive search, the ship’s boarding team discovered 5588kgs of hashish in hessian bags."
Commander Cath Hayes, the commanding officer of HMAS Toowoomba, praised her team and her colleagues in CMF.
“I am proud of the tenacity and hard work displayed by the Toowoomba team to intercept and board the dhow in challenging weather conditions before executing an extensive search of the vessel to locate the elaborately concealed drugs," said Ms Hayes.
HEROIN SEIZED
In April 2014, Australian Navy sailors seized 46 sacks of heroin worth Sh24.9 billion ($290 million) from a boat off Kenyan coast.
According to Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the heroin was hidden among bags of cement.
The heroin was promptly destroyed.
Anti-narcotics officials said if sold at the current street value, the heroin would have raised enough money to fund the Jubilee government’s primary school laptops.
It was seized after a three-day surveillance by the Australians, who had been patrolling the Indian Ocean.
They had been monitoring the movement of a dhow that was carrying cement and the more than one tonne of the illicit cargo before they pounced.
In Nairobi, the Department of Defence spokesman, Mr Bogita Ongeri, said the haul was not seized within Kenya’s territorial waters.
“I can authoritatively say that the seizure of such heroin never happened within our Exclusive Economic Zone. We are doing daily surveillance within our territorial waters and we have not received such a report,” added Mr Ongeri.
