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.

[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!

[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.

[six-six-seis]

W.O.W.

impressive. NOT....

[denn034]

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

[sociald63]

way to go, cbs - agents names should NOT be published on drug raids news

[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.

[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.

[usmcvn1]

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

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


OOORRRAAAHHH!! Semper Fi!

[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. :))

[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.

[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 :)

[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]

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!!

[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. :))

[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?

[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?

[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.

[ddaryl1]

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

now thats a headline.

I agree Who the uck cares

[summarex]

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

[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.