A French ship monitoring drug trafficking in the Arabian Sea seized narcotics worth $17 million on its latest mission.
The haul is the sixth major drug bust in the area in the past month by Marine Nationale vessels. Officials said it will have a negative effect on the funding of terrorism.
The crew spotted a suspicious vessel and a search operation uncovered the illicit cargo, which included heroin worth $787,500.
"This drug seizure contributes to the high level of achievements performed by French naval forces in the area," said Capt Guilhem Desvignes, Guepratte's commanding officer.
"It represents another great success against the illicit traffic of narcotic drugs at sea and crowns the efficient and relentless training undertaken by my crew since September."
“I particularly want to highlight the outstanding co-operation we had with CTF-150 which was key to this significant success," Capt Desvignes said.
Boarding teams from FS Guépratte approach a suspicious vessel in the Arabian Sea. A later search operation uncovered almost 1,400 lbs of methamphetamine and heroin. Marine Nationale
Deputy Commander of CMF, Commodore Ed Ahlgren of Britain's Royal Navy, said the money from the drugs would probably have been used to fund terrorism.
“The successful seizure of methamphetamine on this scale shows how critical our maritime security operations are to tackling global issues," he said.
“It’s important we consider the downstream effects; these illicit actors will now be hampered in their other activities, including terrorism, while communities can rest easy knowing this harmful product will not be on their streets.”
String of raids disrupt Arabian Sea crime
In the past few weeks, other raids netted drugs worth $16.66 million.
CTF-150 is one of three CMF task forces on a mission to disrupt criminal and terrorist organisations in the Arabian Sea region.
Commander of CTF-150, Commodore Daniel Charlebois of the Royal Canadian Navy, said teamwork was hampering terrorist organisations.
"It is only through strong relationships with trusted partners and allies that CTF-150 has enjoyed tangible results at sea, such as the most recent interdiction made by FS Guepratte," he said.
"I send my personal thanks to the Marine Nationale for their continued excellence as we continue to work together in denying criminal and terrorist organisations unrestricted access to the maritime domain.”
Launched in 2002, the CMF operates across more than seven million square kilometres of international waters, including the Suez Canal and the Strait of Hormuz.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results
First Test, Brisbane: Australia won by 10 wickets
Second Test, Adelaide: Australia won by 120 runs
Third Test, Perth: Australia won by an innings and 41 runs
Fourth Test: Melbourne: Drawn
Fifth Test: Australia won by an innings and 123 runs
Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Although you can buy gold easily on the Dubai markets, the problem with buying physical bars, coins or jewellery is that you then have storage, security and insurance issues.
A far easier option is to invest in a low-cost exchange traded fund (ETF) that invests in the precious metal instead, for example, ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU) and iShares Physical Gold (SGLN) both track physical gold. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF invests directly in mining companies.
Alternatively, BlackRock Gold & General seeks to achieve long-term capital growth primarily through an actively managed portfolio of gold mining, commodity and precious-metal related shares. Its largest portfolio holdings include gold miners Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold Corp, Agnico Eagle Mines and the NewMont Goldcorp.
Brave investors could take on the added risk of buying individual gold mining stocks, many of which have performed wonderfully well lately.
London-listed Centamin is up more than 70 per cent in just three months, although in a sign of its volatility, it is down 5 per cent on two years ago. Trans-Siberian Gold, listed on London's alternative investment market (AIM) for small stocks, has seen its share price almost quadruple from 34p to 124p over the same period, but do not assume this kind of runaway growth can continue for long
However, buying individual equities like these is highly risky, as their share prices can crash just as quickly, which isn't what what you want from a supposedly safe haven.
Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un shake hands ahead of one-on-one discussion
US and North Korean teams sit down for bilateral summit
Kim: “I believe this is a good prelude for peace."
Trump: “We will solve it, we will be successful.”
All times UTC 4
All Blacks line-up for third Test
J Barrett; I Dagg, A Lienert-Brown, N Laumape, J Savea; B Barrett, A Smith; J Moody, C Taylor, O Franks, B Retallick, S Whitelock, J Kaino, S Cane, K Read (capt).
Replacements: N Harris, W Crockett, C Faumuina, S Barrett, A Savea, TJ Perenara, A Cruden, M Fekitoa.
NINE WINLESS GAMES
Arsenal 2-2 Crystal Palace (Oct 27, PL)
Liverpool 5-5 Arsenal (Oct 30, EFL)
Arsenal 1-1 Wolves (Nov 02, PL)
Vitoria Guimaraes 1-1 Arsenal (Nov 6, Europa)
Leicester 2-0 Arsenal (Nov 9, PL)
Arsenal 2-2 Southampton (Nov 23, PL)
Arsenal 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt (Nov 28, Europa)
Norwich 2-2 Arsenal (Dec 01, PL)
Arsenal 1-2 Brighton (Dec 05, PL)
RESULT
Brazil 2 Croatia 0
Brazil: Neymar (69'), Firmino (90' 3)
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023 More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
