A US Navy guided-missile destroyer seized 640 kilograms of methamphetamine worth $39 million from a fishing vessel with Iranian crew members in the Gulf of Oman.
The US Navy said that a Coast Guard interdiction team from USS Momsen (DDG 92) discovered the illegal narcotics while patrolling international waters in the Gulf of Oman, May 15-16.
Momsen was operating in support of Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, one of four task forces under the Combined Maritime Forces.
The team boarded the ship under international law, discovered illegal drugs, and seized the boat, which remains in US custody.
The vessel was interdicted while transiting international waters along a route historically used by criminal organizations to smuggle people, weapons, narcotics, and charcoal.
According to the statement, crew members attempted to discard more than 60 bales of the seized drugs as Momsen approached.
The vessel’s nine crew members identified themselves as Iranian nationals and will be transferred to a regional nation for repatriation.
Momsen was operating in support of Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, one of four task forces under the Combined Maritime Forces.
The international naval force has increased regional patrols to locate and disrupt unlawful maritime activity.
CTF 150 has conducted nine successful drug seizures in 2022, resulting in the confiscation of heroin, methamphetamine, amphetamine pills, and hashish worth a combined value of $130 million.
Combined Maritime Forces is the largest multinational naval partnership in the world.
The organization includes 34 nations and is headquartered in Bahrain with the US Naval Forces Central Command and US 5th Fleet.
