Pakistan Navy ship Yarmook seized narcotics worth more than $972 million from sailboats in the Arabian Sea, according to a statement issued on Wednesday from the naval network overseeing the operation.
The Combined Maritime Force (CMF), a naval partnership that includes the United States, said the Pakistani naval vessel intercepted two different dhow sailing boats within 48 hours last week. It was working in “direct support of Saudi-led Combined Task Force (CTF) 150” of the CMF during focused operation Al Masmak, which began on October 16.
“The crew boarded the first dhow and seized over two tons of crystal methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $822,400,000 [on] October 18. Less than 48 hours later, the crew boarded a second dhow and seized 350 kilogrammes of [crystal meth] worth $140,000,000 and 50kg of cocaine worth $10,000,000,” the CMF statement said.
The narcotics were transported back to the ship for testing to confirm the contents and subsequently disposed of, the statement added.
The intercepted vessels were “identified as having no nationality”, it said without indicating where they had originated.
It was “one of the most successful narcotics seizures for CMF,” Royal Saudi Naval Forces Commodore Fahad Aljoiad, commander of the CMF taskforce carrying out the operation, was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Navy said in a statement that the achievement highlighted its “unwavering commitment to regional maritime security, global peace, and the collective fight against illicit trafficking at sea”.
It further said that the successful operation reaffirmed Pakistan’s “active role as a responsible maritime partner contributing to peace and security in the wider Indian Ocean region”.
The statement further said that Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf commended the crew for their professionalism and dedication.
“He emphasised that Pakistan Navy remains steadfast in its mission to safeguard national maritime interests while contributing to the global commons through cooperation and coordinated maritime security efforts,” it quoted him as syaing.
“The naval chief underscored that PNS Yarmook’s operation under Saudi-led task force will further enhance the interoperability between the two navies and strengthen defence collaboration between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” it added.
President Asif Ali Zardari said that the achievement reflected “national pride, professional excellence, and Pakistan Navy’s unwavering commitment to regional peace and maritime security”.
The US Central Command in a post on X congratulated the CMF, which includes 47 countries’ navies and patrols more than three million square miles of sea, including some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, to disrupt the smuggling of drugs and weapons.
The commissioning ceremony for Pakistan Navy Ship (PNS) Yarmook was held in Romania in February 2020 and it was inducted into the Pakistan Navy fleet in December 2020.
PNS Yarmook is an electronic warfare, anti-ship and anti-air platform with cutting edge self-protection and terminal defence systems. The ship is capable of performing a variety of maritime operations and unmanned aerial vehicle operations simultaneously.
In March last year, the vessel was employed in a rescue operation after a distress call from a boat, carrying eight Iranian fishermen, that had caught fire.
In July 2024, it was also deployed in the Indian Ocean with an embarked helicopter for the safety and security of merchant ships bound to and coming from the country’s ports.
The CMF, the naval network overseeing the operation, said in a statement on Wednesday that last week, the Pakistani navy intercepted the dhows in two separate operations over 48 hours and seized narcotics worth more than $972m.
The crew boarded the first dhow and seized more than 2 tonnes of “crystal methamphetamine (ICE) with an estimated street value of $822,400,000” on October 18, the CMF said in a statement.
“Less than 48 hours later, the crew boarded a second dhow and seized 350 kg of ICE worth $140,000,000, and 50 kg of cocaine worth $10,000,000.”
The CMF did not provide further details on where the vessels originated, but added that they were identified “as having no nationality”.
The operations were conducted in direct support of a Saudi-led Combined Task Force 150, which said “the success of this focused operation highlights the importance of the multi-national collaboration”.
It was “one of the most successful narcotics seizures for CMF”, said Saudi Arabian navy’s Commodore Fahad Aljoiad, commander of the CMF task force carrying out the operation.The CMF is a 47-nation naval partnership tasked with inspecting more than 3.2 million square miles (about 829 million hectares) of waters, including some of the world’s most important shipping lanes, to prevent smuggling, the statement added.
In a separate statement, the Pakistani navy said the achievement highlighted its “unwavering commitment to regional maritime security, global peace, and the collective fight against illicit trafficking at sea”.