LONDON: The UK’s Royal Navy has used drones to foil drug smuggling for the first time as part of an operation in the northern Arabian Sea.
The crew of HMS Lancaster spotted suspicious boats using new Peregrine miniature helicopters that are controlled remotely, the Daily Telegraph reported on Friday.
Operators of the drones detected the two boats side by side at night, and a Wildcat helicopter was dispatched to inspect the vessels at a closer distance.
The crew on the helicopter saw a small fast boat and a dhow, with packages being transferred onto the latter.
After HMS Lancaster arrived to intercept the vessels, $6.9 million worth of drugs were discovered despite the crew of the small boats attempting to dump the packages.
The Peregrine is 3 meters long and has a flight time of up to five hours. It is the first remote-controlled helicopter operated by the Royal Navy and can transfer data, radar information and imagery back to warship control rooms.
It has radically improved the navy’s ability to carry out drug busts, a source told the Telegraph.
HMS Lancaster, which has operated out of Bahrain for more than two years, was in the region as part of the international Combined Task Force 150. The coalition aims to clamp down on illegal activity in the Middle East.
UK Royal Navy busts drug smuggling using drones for first time
https://arab.news/8jn87
UK Royal Navy busts drug smuggling using drones for first time
- Arabian Sea operation intercepts $6.9m worth of drugs
- HMS Lancaster operates out of Bahrain
Kurds in Turkiye protest over Syria Aleppo offensive
- Several hundred people gathered in Diyarbakir while hundreds more joined a protest in Istanbul
- In the capital, Ankara, DEM lawmakers protested in front of the Turkish parliament
DIYARBAKIR, Turkiye: Protesters rallied for a second day in Turkiye’s main cities on Thursday to demand an end to a deadly Syrian army offensive against Kurdish fighters in Aleppo, an AFP correspondent said.
Several hundred people gathered in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkiye’s main Kurdish-majority city, while hundreds more joined a protest in Istanbul that was roughly broken up by riot police who arrested around 25 people, the pro-Kurdish DEM party said.
In the capital, Ankara, DEM lawmakers protested in front of the Turkish parliament, denouncing the targeting of Kurds in Aleppo as a crime against humanity.
The protesters demanded an end to the operation by Syrian government forces against the Kurdish-led SDF force in Aleppo, where at least 21 people have been killed in three days of violent clashes.
It was the worst violence in the northwestern city since Syria’s Islamist authorities took power a year ago. The fighting erupted as both sides struggled to implement a March agreement to integrate autonomous Kurdish institutions into the new Syrian state.
In Istanbul, hundreds of protesters waving flags braved heavy rain near Galata Tower to denounce the Aleppo operation under the watchful eye of hundreds of riot police, an AFP correspondent said.
But some of the slogans drew a sharp warning from the police, who moved to roughly break up the gathering and arrested some 25 people, DEM’s Istanbul branch said.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the police attack on the Rojava solidarity action in Sishane. This brutal intervention, oppression, and violence against our young comrades is unacceptable!” the party wrote on X, demanding the immediate release of those arrested.
At the Diyarbakir protest during the afternoon, protesters carried a huge portrait of the jailed PKK militant leader Abdullah Ocalan, an AFP video journalist reported.
“We urge states to act as they did for the Palestinian people, for our Kurdish brothers who are suffering oppression and hardship,” Zeki Alacabey, 64, told AFP in Diyarbakir.
Although Turkiye has embarked on a peace process with the PKK, it remains hostile to the SDF, which controls swathes of northeastern Syria, seeing it as an extension of the banned militant group and a major threat along its southern border.
It has repeatedly demanded that the SDF merge into the main Syrian military. A defense ministry official said on Thursday that Ankara was ready to “support” Syria’s operation against the Kurdish fighters if needed.
Demonstrators had already taken to the streets in several major Turkish cities with Kurdish majorities on Wednesday, including Diyarbakir and Van, according to images broadcast by the DEM.
