Pakistan Navy seizes $1bn worth of crystal meth and cocaine in Arabian Sea drugs bust

This article first appeared on our partner site, Independent Urdu

Pakistan’s navy has seized narcotics worth an estimated $1 billion (£820 million) during a joint operation in the Arabian Sea, the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) said on Tuesday.

The CMF, a multinational naval partnership that includes the United States and the United Kingdom, said the Pakistan Navy ship PNS Yarmook intercepted two sailing vessels within 48 hours last week.

According to a CMF statement, Pakistani navy personnel confiscated several tonnes of crystal methamphetamine and a small quantity of cocaine. The statement, seen by Independent Urdu, also said the intercepted vessels were “identified as having no nationality” and did not disclose their point of origin.

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Royal Saudi Naval Forces Commodore Fahad Aljoiad, commander of the CMF task force that carried out the operation, said: “PNS Yarmook has had one of the most successful narcotics seizures for CMF.”

US Central Command also lauded the operation in a post shared on X: “U.S. Central Command congratulates the Saudi-led Combined Task Force 150 of Combined Maritime Forces for successfully seizing more than $972m worth of narcotics. Over a 48-hour period, Pakistan Navy Ship Yarmook conducted boarding operations of two dhows in the Arabian Sea.”

According to the CMF website, the Pakistan Navy ship PNS Yamama 274, operating under CMF’s Saudi-led command, earlier seized more than $120m (£98m) worth of illegal narcotics from a vessel in the Arabian Sea on 28 September.

On a routine patrol, the crew recovered 155 kilograms of methamphetamine and 65 kilograms of cocaine during that operation.

Translated by Tooba Khokhar; reviewed by Celine Assaf