Prince William Involved In Navy Drug Raid

British Prince Part Of Helicopter Crew That Opened Fire On Suspected Drug Runners

(AP)  Prince William took part in a British navy helicopter raid that opened fire on a speedboat believed to be used by drug runners, the Ministry of Defense said Saturday.

It was the second time the prince - known in the Royal Navy as Sub-Lt. Wales - helped his crew mates on the HMS Iron Duke go after suspected narcotics traffickers in the Caribbean as part of his program to gain experience in all the branches of the British armed forces.

A military spokesman said the Iron Duke intercepted the speedboat on July 18 about 110 miles north of Venezuela's and Colombia's coastlines.

William was the lookout on the Lynx helicopter deployed to track the boat as marksmen shot out the vessel's engine. The military said commandos from the Royal Marines aboard the helicopter used high-power, long-range rifles to disable the 30-foot vessel after it tried to evade detection and ignored warning shots.

A British military spokesman said William, second in line to the British throne, was aboard the helicopter as part of his training. He did not take part in the firing, but played "a sort of lookout role," the spokesman said on condition of anonymously in line with military policy.

The military said three Colombians were arrested when the HMS Iron Duke, the British frigate from where the helicopter operates, caught up with the stricken speedboat. But while traces of cocaine were detected on two of the three men, no drugs were found aboard.

The military said the ship was later sunk under the authority of the U.S. Coast Guard team working aboard the Iron Duke. The men were handed to Colombian authorities.

The military has announced the prince's encounter with Caribbean drug traffickers once before. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Defense said William helped his crew mates intercept a speedboat carrying 1,900 pounds of cocaine northeast of Barbados.

Both William, 26, and his younger brother Harry - who was briefly deployed to Afghanistan - are continuing a family tradition of military service. Their grandfather Prince Philip had a long Navy career, as did their father, Prince Charles, and their uncle, Prince Andrew, flew a Sea King helicopter during the Falklands War.

Although it conducts counter-narcotics operations with the U.S. Coast Guard, the Iron Duke's primary mission is to support Britain's Caribbean territories and provide disaster relief. It is due to remain in the area until October.

[cfin5]

COOL! Sink all of those blasted boats you can. I would rather those "sailors" go down with the boat though. Prince William and Harry seem to be pretty regular fellas considering their status. I like the name "HMS Iron Duke",....sounds appropriate. I know their Dad''s proud of them,....and their Mom would be too :)

[cfin5]

....I forgot to say that their military should be easy on the Prince''s whereabouts,.....I don''t think that''s very wise.

[sistatee-2009]

And in other breaking new..Prince William was able to wipe his own bum without help of Nana Elizabeth.

Posted by rednek1947 at 08:32 PM : Jul 26, 2008

But not without getting it on his hands.

[marshall_nee]

Prince William Involved In Navy Drug Raid
______________________________

Finders keepers?

[barbaraf4]

You would think that with all the money this family has they could have afforded to put braces on William''s teeth.

[cdfoxtrot1]

"Sort like a look out" what kind of s hit is that suppose to mean! It means he did nothing at all, just a stunt for the papers, the brits can kiss my a$$!

Posted by zgomer

Agreed. The Brits. royalty are a waste of taxpayer money and a waste of space. He obviously did nothing in this, other than sit and watch while the real soldiers did the work. Spoiled brat.

[cdfoxtrot1]

...I forgot to say that their military should be easy on the Prince''''s whereabouts,.....I don''''t think that''''s very wise.

Posted by cfin5

Absolutely right. He''s "somewhere" in the Caribbean. Must be easy to find then, eh? Only he''s actually based on a warship, so taking him out might be a tad difficult.

[oneworldusa]

Why is this news?

[smurfcrusher]

"Prince William Involved In Navy Drug Raid"

As the subject?

Just wondering... ;)

[cmp271]

william is a fine young man...I don''t like him being anywhere he may be hurt or worse.

Wills and Harry are caring guys. They need to be kept safe as they are the continuation of British history. It would be frustrating in today''s world not to be involved. They are not indispensible. Their Father is proud of them and Diana would be too!!

shame on you jealous negative writers!!

[lochlan-2009]

It''s weird to watch them groom and paste experiences together for someone, in their building his resume.

Help poor people in poor country, check.
Shoot at bad guy in war, check.

IT''s funny.

[tangula-2009]

What William did in this task is easy to do for any man. Of course we know the need to fill the blank on the screen. But we really want to hear something meaningful, such as a conversation between Prince William with Mr. Obama. It should be a challenge for him, but we do expect that could happen, except he is just ordinary.

[marcpcbs]

Obviously, busting drug dealers is a Royal Act.

I agree. Keep up the good work Prince William

[pirmin3]

"Help poor people in poor country, check.
Shoot at bad guy in war, check.
IT''s funny."

So true. What others do every day sans notoriety gets blown out of all proportion when slick willy is involved. You''d swear he brought back the tablet with the 10 commandments.

[merlgrey]

the emperors new clothes.....

[babooph]

British never can learn -another "arranged" military head-chosen by birth-& now the US suffers from a Com in Ch-picked by birth-2 nations,once great on their way to the dumpster.

[summarex]

Why are these English running around the new world conducting any kind of operation? Get them the hell outta here!

[ddaryl1]

Prince William gets loaded on drugs at a rave....

now thats a headline.

I agree Who the uck cares

[babooph]

Good move-he must be taught that only the major nations big shots make the narcotics $$.If the peasants do it ,the profit for the in crowd is too little.

[piercetheval]

...I''m all for stopping the flow of COKE into the U.S. but isn''t a 110 miles off the coast of ANYWHERE in international waters?

[fabrat1]

Actually it was 2000 lbs of cocaine so what happened to the other 100 lbs?? I know this becaus my nephew is in the Navy and I have read the official Navy press release on their website and it clearly stated 2000 lbs. Makes you wonder where the other 100 lbs went?

[nojoy01]

''condition of anonymously'' The reporter who wrote the article is probably a US citizen. I just cannot imagine a reporter from the UK mangling the English language in such a way as to use the adverb ''anonymously'' instead of the noun ''anoniminty'' in the construction of that sentence. Unless, of course he/she was educated at Oxford or Cambridge, Oxford Mississippi or Cambridge Massachusetts, that is. :))

[gheemaster38]

He did not take part in the firing, but played "a sort of lookout role," the spokesman said on condition of anonymously in line with military policy.

Lookout Role?? So in other words he sat back on his bum scared sh*tless while others did the work in a helicopter, right? Hey, Prince! If you reaally want to impress us Come to America and run with the drug taskforce in any major city and be a "lookout!" You can go in the door last you want to because it wont matter when the REAL shooting begins. Is this news worthy? H*ll NO!!

[hypnotoad72]

Lookout Role?? So in other words he sat back on his bum scared sh*tless while others did the work in a helicopter, right? Hey, Prince! If you reaally want to impress us Come to America and run with the drug taskforce in any major city and be a "lookout!" You can go in the door last you want to because it wont matter when the REAL shooting begins. Is this news worthy? H*ll NO!!

Posted by gheemaster38
----------------------

And if he was the #1 man in the group, doing all the work, you''d still find reason to complain. Admittedly, complaining is fun, but if you''re as young, why aren''t you in service?

[gheemaster38]

And if he was the #1 man in the group, doing all the work, you''''d still find reason to complain. Admittedly, complaining is fun, but if you''''re as young, why aren''''t you in service?

Posted by hypnotoad72

USMC-FORECON-84-89 Thanks for asking :)

[xiazner]

I agree, you people obviously aren''t looking at the facts that a lookout is perhaps the most important role in any operation. Without one, would they be able to detect hidden movement that could have been them uncovering hidden weapons? Possibly, but perhaps not in time. So instead of complaining about someone in the armed services, get your own *** out there and help protect your country.

[nojoy01]

And if he was the #1 man in the group, doing all the work, you''''''''d still find reason to complain. Admittedly, complaining is fun, but if you''''''''re as young, why aren''''''''t you in service?

Posted by hypnotoad72

USMC-FORECON-84-89 Thanks for asking :)

Posted by gheemaster38 at 12:05 PM : Jul 27, 2008

Hey gheemaster38, as far as your response goes:

A) I do like your style. :))
but

B) Let me get this straight. If your had been/were deployed on an operation that needed somebody to fulfill ''a sort of lookout role'' you could''ve hauled along a civilian & let him/her sit there ''browning'' their pants because, after all, he would be a supernumery, right?

C) Or could this just possibly have been a REALLY bad choice of words by the PRO? Who has now been transferred to the ''Invasion Alert Force'' in the Falklands. :))

[usmcvn1]

USMC-FORECON-84-89 Thanks for asking :)

Posted by gheemaster38 at 12:05 PM : Jul 27, 2008


OOORRRAAAHHH!! Semper Fi!

[jmurrieta1]

"The military said three Colombians were arrested when the HMS Iron Duke, the British frigate from where the helicopter operates, caught up with the stricken speedboat. But . . . no drugs were found aboard.
The military said the ship was later sunk under the authority of the U.S. Coast Guard team working aboard the Iron Duke."


This is the sort of thing that got the Brits in trouble over the centuries--boarding foreign flag ships on the high seas, kidnapping people, and indiscriminantly sinking ships.

Look out Limeys! Might get your knuckles rapped again. Silkworms do a heck of a job, as the Argentinians showed you.

But your German prince got some paparazzi exposure--the real cause of the exercise.

[summarex]

Quite so.
And it used to be called piracy!


This is the sort of thing that got the Brits in trouble over the centuries--boarding foreign flag ships on the high seas, kidnapping people, and indiscriminantly sinking ships.

[sociald63]

way to go, cbs - agents names should NOT be published on drug raids news

[denn034]

All this means is that he did his job. Why make it a news event?!

[six-six-seis]

W.O.W.

impressive. NOT....

[waldojj]

End the war on drugs now! 75 years of prohibiton has caused loss of rights, increase in violence and cheaper and cheaper drugs flooding our streets.

Now is the time for regulation and harm reduction. Stop the war on drugs. Stop the war.

[waldojj]

The boat didn''t even have any drugs and they sink it? Where is the outrage? That is private property on the open ocean? Have the sunk any rich people''s yachts? Outrageous!

Also, why do the people who use the drugs get to capture the drugs? I don''t understand it!