US Navy cruiser interdicts over US$2.8 million in heroin in North Arabian Sea

The US Navy Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, deployed to US Fifth Fleet and operating in support of Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), interdicted a shipment of more than 275 kilograms of suspected narcotics from a dhow in the international waters of the North Arabian Sea in an operation late last month.

Seven bags of suspected narcotics were seized and tested, resulting in a seizure of suspected heroin worth US$2.89 million wholesale.

This seizure, conducted in direct support of CMF’s Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, marks the seventh CMF drug seizure since October 2020.