Warship seizes $505m cocaine load in Caribbean

LONDON - A British warship seized two tonnes of cocaine worth an estimated 200 million pounds (NZ$505m) after chasing a gang of smugglers in a speedboat in the Caribbean, the British government said on Monday.

Snipers aboard a Royal Navy helicopter fired shots to stop the boat's engines about 160 km off the Nicaraguan coast after it tried to outrun them.

The chase began when the frigate Cumberland intercepted the speedboat during a routine anti-smuggling patrol, the Ministry of Defence in London said.

"This is a great success for the Royal Navy," Defence Secretary John Reid said in a statement. "(It) has dealt a sledgehammer blow to the drug traffickers."

- REUTERS