A high speed boat chase across the Adriatic Sea has resulted in the seizure of marijuana worth an estimated £250,000.

Drug smugglers tried to out run the authorities off the southern Italian coast, reaching speeds of 35-knots in their RIB.

The boat was initially spotted acting suspiciously by the crew of an Italian Civil Guard Air Service helicopter.

The aircraft was in the area as part of border security efforts – Operation Triton 2017 – which is coordinated by the European Union’s Border security and coastguard agency, Frontex.

It aims to intercept drug smugglers and people traffickers.

The seized marijuana

According to a media release issued by Italy’s Guardia Civil yesterday (11 June), the helicopter crew reported the sighting of the suspicious boat to the Intelligence Officer at the International Coordination Centre in Rome.

The aircraft remained in the area carrying out discreet surveillance, while three boats were launched by Italy’s Guardia de Finanza.

“They intercepted the boat by seizing the 1,413 kilos of marijuana transported packed in 77 packages, stopped the two people who sailed there and transferred it to the port of Bari,” said the media release.

Continued below…

Boaters reminded to report unusual or suspicious activity

With the boating season well and truly underway, agencies behind Project Kraken are asking sailors to be their eyes and…

Cheeki Rafiki: A boat designed for disabled sailors is to be named in memory of Cheeki Rafiki sailor, James Male.

Male's parents, Graham and Lorraine, have played a major role in fundraising for the new wheelchair accessible powerboat, the Coulam Wheelyboat…

Royal Navy seizes £65M of heroin and cannabis in Indian Ocean

The packets of heroin and cannabis, with an estimated street value of £65 million, were found hidden in the freezer…

The boat was taken to the Adriatic Sea port city of Bari, which is the capital of southern Italy’s Puglia region.

The marijuana is estimated to have a street value of £250,000.

According to the Frontex website, Operation Triton has a monthly budget of €2.9 million.

The project is under the command of the Italian Ministry of Interior, in cooperation with Guardia di Finanza, as well as the Italian Coast Guard

It is funded by voluntary contributions from 15 European countries: Croatia, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and Malta.

The operational area of Triton covers the territorial waters of Italy as well as parts of the search and rescue (SAR) zones of Italy and Malta.