Canadian warship destroys drug-smuggling boat in Arabian Sea

A Canadian warship has intercepted and destroyed a small boat carrying illegal drugs in the northern Arabian Sea.

HMCS Toronto, one of five Canadian Navy ships deployed in the northern Arabian Sea, came upon the boat a small wooden vessel known as a dhow Wednesday. It was towing a speed boat.

When the frigate Toronto approached the dhow two unidentified males jumped into the speedboat, abandoning the dhow with its engines running.

Sailors from Toronto boarded the dhow and found 90 bags of drugs in the hull. Each bag weighed about 23 kg and is believed to have contained either hash or opium.

The estimated street value of the drugs is said to be up to $70 million. The sealed plastic packages of drugs were stamped with "Freedom of Afghanistan."

A release from the Department of National Defence says the dhow and its cargo were destroyed Thursday "by HMCS Toronto's main armament and that of other coalition ships and aircraft on the direction of the U.S. Naval commander."

HMCS Toronto left Halifax on Dec. 5, 2001. She served with the Standing Naval Force Atlantic in the Mediterranean Sea before joining the naval coalition in the Arabian Sea as part of Operation Apollo.