Canadian sailor at the helm of massive heroin bust – SaltWire Network

Not a bad way to start a new gig.

One of the warships under the command of a Canadian sailor heading CTF-150, the multinational task force policing Middle Eastern waters for contraband, just seized about $3.7 million worth of heroin.

Three days after I assumed command of Combined Task Force 150, we achieved some tactical and tangible success at sea, Commodore Dan Charlebois said Tuesday in an interview from Bahrain.

Its a great start to the deployment.

A boarding party from the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea located seven bags containing a total of 275 kilos of heroin Jan. 30 aboard a dhow it stopped to search in the Gulf of Oman.

The illicit narcotics were destined for the markets of the world, Charlebois said.

Thats close to about $3 million (US) that would normally go to help finance terrorist activities and I would say, almost as importantly, thats just about 300 kilograms of drugs that arent on the streets internationally, but of course even back at home in Canada because these organizations have networks that are far-reaching. And the team at sea just prevented all those drugs from getting on the streets.

Charlebois who was the skipper of HMCS Regina in these same waters eight years back when the Halifax-class frigate deployed to the Middle East said the American boarding party did a fantastic job with the search.

These individuals are extremely skilled at hiding illicit material on board their ships, he said of the heroin smugglers. The drugs were well-hidden. But these boarding teams are extremely well-trained.

Searches of this nature can take as much as a day. You can appreciate the climate at sea: Its hot, these vessels are cramped, theyre dirty, the boarding teams are obviously observing COVID precautions, so everything (has) another layer of complexity.

The boarding party moved the crew to the forward section of the dhow before starting the search, he said.

Theyre well-armed, theyre well-trained and, tactically, very proficient.

The dhows crew did not put up any resistance, Charlebois said.

When they see a boarding party approaching their ship and in the background is a ship like the USS Philippine Sea -- which is an enormous cruiser -- they are extremely compliant. In fact, in a lot of cases, youll see the crew of the dhow start to move to the forepeak of the dhow even before the boarding team gets alongside in their boat. They dont want any part of starting trouble with one of these boarding teams.

Hes responsible for policing about twomillion square nautical miles or 6.8 million square kilometres -- of ocean, including the Arabian Sea.

While he wont say exactly how many warships and aircraft he has at his disposal, Charlebois said they can come from 33 countries involved in the international coalition aiming to provide maritime security in the Middle East.

We have a lot of assets at sea and in the air to help locate and interdict smuggling of illicit material in this region and I think we do a very successful job at finding it.

Since 2017, CTF-150 has confiscated more than $1 billion worth of narcotics, including heroin, cocaine, hashish and methamphetamine, he said.

I cant tell you if were getting all of it. The skeptic in me says we might not be. But I think were getting absolutely as much as we can with the assets that we have, for sure.

The drug finds dont lead to criminal prosecutions. It is search and seizure only, Charlebois said. There is no legal foundation to prosecute these individuals at this point in time. So, what we can do is confiscate and dispose of illicit cargo. We just want to find it and dispose of it so its not sold and the money doesnt continue to finance terrorist activities. And moreover, those drugs dont make it to the streets in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Boston, Washington, New York you name the city.

Charlebois is also on the lookout for charcoal from Somalia.

We are looking for it more to report the movement of charcoal in the region, he said. And the reason for that is environmental in a sense. The production of charcoal can have a devastating impact on the environment. And charcoal has been used in the past to fund illegal activity, much like narcotics, but I would say to a lesser extent.

The naval warfare officer traces a direct line between the contraband his people are hunting for and terrorist activities in the region.

After years of intelligence work and police work, co-operation with international agencies, and different partner countries, direct financial lines have been drawn to different terrorist organizations, Charlebois said, naming Islamist militant group al-Shabab, and in the past al Qaeda and Daesh.

Charlebois is due to turn over command of the task force to New Zealand in mid-July. Hell still be in charge when HMCS Calgary sails to Middle Eastern waters this spring.

While hed normally visit the ship, the pandemic might prevent that from happening this time around. Would I love to visit Calgary when shes in theatre? Absolutely, he said. In a perfect environment, which means not in a pandemic, I would. But I would say for the time being my movements will be minimal and I will be staying and operating out of the headquarters here in Bahrain and very likely not visiting Calgary. I dont like to rule anything out, but first and foremost we have to protect our ships at sea.

None of the ships under his command have seen COVID-19 cases thus far, he said. Charlebois doesnt know if theyll have access to vaccines before his six-month deployment is done.

Charlebois who served aboard Halifax-based ships including HMCS Charlottetown, HMCS Halifax, and HMCS Fredericton, where he was the executive officer -- joined the navy at 17 in 1992 and spent his formative years here.

I come from a navy family, he said. The navys in my blood.

The father of two girls, one who turns eight on Valentines Day and the other 11, now calls Ottawa where he says its about as cold as Mars lately home. He tips his cap to families at home that lend stability to sailors at sea.

To me its probably the single most important pillar that supports our deployed operations, Charlebois said. Our families at home continue to support and encourage us, manage the home, manage kids learning virtually, still working jobs, shoveling snow. I dont think our families get enough credit, frankly.

This the first time Canadian sailors have taken command of multinational fleets off northern Europe and the Middle East at the same time.

Its extremely significant, Charlebois said.

It demonstrates Canada is committed to rules-based international order. Were committed to security of the high seas. Were committed to our partners, whether theyre NATO partners or our partners here in combined maritime forces. The missions are different, but both demonstrate Canadas willingness and capability to deploy globally and to contribute and to, frankly, pull our weight.

Commodore Bradley Peates recently took command of Standing NATO Maritime Group One. The rapid reaction force operates in Western and Northern European waters, including the Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Norwegian Sea.

He was born to be at sea, but he was also born, in my opinion, for cold weather, said Charlebois, who calls Peates a pal.

He had spent two years up in Yellowknife as deputy commander Joint Task Force North he's well-used to the cold and Im quite happy that hes operating where hes operating and Im operating where Im operating here in the 22 C weather.

In an interview from Portsmouth, England, over the weekend, Peates said hes pretty happy with the single digit temperaturesaboard his flagship, HMCS Halifax. Overall, its not bad weather at all.

With 32 years in the Royal Canadian Navy, Peates stressed that having two Canadians sailors commanding multi-national fleets at the same time demonstrates Canadas ability to lead on the world stage.

Commodore Charlebois whos just taken over command of CTF-150 is a close personal friend of mine and so it is a unique opportunity for the two of us, who have grown up in the navy together, to be in command at the same time, Peates said.

He took over command of the fleet from the Portuguese in a virtual ceremony due to the pandemic.

Halifax is sailing with a German tanker and recently conducted exercises with two German frigates, he said. All the training -- done in English -- is to foster interoperability with allies.

We have a responsibility to NATO to provide a continuous maritime presence and to be ready to respond across a full spectrum of operations, whether thats a search and rescue type mission to crisis or conflict if required.

The plan is to patrol the Western European side of the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and Norwegian Sea and conduct exercises with warships from other countries along the way including Poland and Norway.

Our intention is to remain in a COVID bubble, Peates said. When were at sea operating with each other, we dont have to wear non-medical masks. We dont have to worry about physical separation. But certainly, when we go into a port where well embark goods we implement full force health protection measures.

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Canadian sailor at the helm of massive heroin bust - SaltWire Network