ISLAMABAD: Pakistani naval ships seized narcotics worth an estimated $750 million during a counter-narcotics operation in the Arabian Sea, the Pakistani military said on Saturday.

Pakistan navy ships, HUNAIN and YARMOOK, were on a routine patrol when the seized over 2,800 kilograms of narcotics during the joint counter-narcotics operation, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.

“The ships intercepted a suspicious boat and recovered narcotics from concealed compartments during a boarding operation,” the ISPR said in a statement.

It said Naval Chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf commended the officers and crew for their professionalism and vigilance, reaffirming Pakistan Navy’s commitment to maritime security and combating illicit trafficking at sea.

The development comes days after the United States credited Pakistan’s anti-narcotics agency with helping seize 463 kilograms of Afghan-origin crystal methamphetamine worth $21 million that was bound for Sri Lanka in an operation conducted last month.

The seizure took place on Aug. 30. Sri Lankan authorities previously said the drugs were discovered concealed in bath towels inside a shipping container at Colombo port. Earlier accounts focused on intelligence supplied by the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the interception by Sri Lankan police and customs authorities. The latest US statement said Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) coordinated with the American agency on the operation.

“The US Drug Enforcement Agency and the Pakistani Anti-Narcotics Force seized 463 kilograms of Afghan-origin crystal meth worth $21 million bound for Sri Lanka, leading to multiple arrests,” the embassy said on X.

The statement did not identify those arrested or specify whether they were detained in Pakistan or Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan police said after the original seizure that two Pakistani nationals had been arrested.

“The US government has provided foreign assistance to train Pakistani forces on a sustained basis, helping them serve as a partner in counternarcotics interdiction,” the embassy said.

It described the operation as an example of bilateral cooperation against international trafficking networks and said disrupting the movement of narcotics across borders also contributed to US security.