Canadian naval vessel HMCS Charlottetown involved in drug seizure near Somalia

Sources from the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) claimed today that their Halifax-class frigate, HMCS Charlottetown was involved in a major drug seizure off the coast of Somalia last Thursday.

The shipment is believed to be related to terrorist groups operating in the North African and Middle East region. According to the Navy, the incident occurred in the Western part of the Arabian Sea, a few hundred kilometres north of the Somalian Coast.

According to Cmdr. Wade Carter, who commanded the Charlottetown, a total of 600 lbs of the banned opiate hashish was seized during the naval operation. He said that the contraband was seized from a small fishing vessel after the Canadian seamen boarded it for inspection. He further said that no arrests were made during the incident. According to Carter, the drug smuggling operation was conducted by various terrorist groups active in East Africa, who fund their activities through the sale of drugs from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Canadians decided to go for the inspection after an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) spotted two fishing boats moving suspiciously in the region. As the naval personnel approached the vessels, the drugs were thrown overboard, but a portion of the stock was recovered from the sea.

Currently a total of 26 nations, including Canada are taking part in the Combined Task Force 150 program, which was set up to prevent the incidents of piracy and drug smuggling in the Gulf of Aden and Gulf of Oman regions. The force operates under the European Union Naval Force Somalia (EU NAVFOR).

The HMCS Charlottetown, which was commissioned in to the RCN on 1996, is one of the 12 Halifax-class frigates operated by the Canadian Navy. The vessel had recently taken part in Operation Active Endeavour, in the Mediterranean Sea. Charlottetown had started its assignment with the CTF 150 two months ago, on 23rd April 2012.