The following article is taken from the latest issue of the Globe & Laurel magazine.
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To some, being recalled from Christmas could be a low blow, however when you are recalled from leave to deploy to the Caribbean, Christmas had come early for us! LCpl Rees and myself put our kit into the van and drove to Heathrow. After two flights totalling 14 hours we touched down in a warm, sunny paradise that was Puerto Rico.
We RV’d with HMS Trent and met with the US Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment, Tactical Law Enforcement Team (TACLET) that we would be working alongside and began integrating immediately. This involved understanding our way around HMS Trent, including the systems onboard and operating her PAC24 craft. When it came to working with the TACLET team it was a case of showing them what a MIOPs coxswain can bring to the party and how we can integrate our Standard Operating Procedures to get the best possible outcome during any future interdictions.
HMS Trent then proceeded towards her first J2-led Area of Operation. During the sailing to this area another J2 injection led to the team tracking its first Vessel of Interest (VOI). HMS Trent started making best speed to a distance of 8NM from the VOI before launching both PAC24s under the cover of darkness. Utilising a combination of vectors from HMS Trent, drones laid on from the US TACLET team and our own Night Vision Devices we started to close with the VOI to interdict. This was very impressive as this was all happening in a very messy Sea State 3 at a speed of 20+ knots at night.
The VOI had no idea we were closing in and the drone gave us a final target read-out. LCpl Rees and myself initiated the blue lights of the PACs and started the final bound of the chase. The VOI now knew it was being followed and changed its stance immediately to erratic driving to try and throw us off the chase. We took this into account and each time the VOI took a sharp turn we simply cut the corners of its track to the point where the first PAC made contact with it and safely offloaded the TACLET team. This was our first successful bust and we ended up seizing a significant amount of drugs.
We continued in this fashion for the next four months having a number of successful busts which resulted in a total of 4324kg of narcotics seized……………..
To find out more about 47 Cdo RG RM and further RM activities across the globe, catch up regularly with all the news in the Globe & Laurel Magazine, the Journal of the Royal Marines.
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Globe & Laurel – RMA – The Royal Marines Charity (rma-trmc.org)
