William the drug buster: Prince's helicopter opens fire on cocaine smugglers' speedboat

Prince William was involved in a second dramatic drugs raid in the Caribbean, when a helicopter he was in opened fire on a boat of suspected cocaine smugglers.

He was on board a Lynx helicopter as it chased a speedboat suspected of shipping cocaine from South America.

When the boat tried to flee, Royal Marines on the helicopter shot at it, forcing the crew of three to jump into the sea.

The men were pulled aboard HMS Iron Duke, the frigate on which the Prince
is spending time as part of a two-month secondment aimed at preparing him for his future role as head of the Armed Forces.

No drugs were found on board the speedboat, but traces were located on two of the three crew, who were handed over to the authorities in Colombia after the vessel was set on fire and sunk.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘Prince William was aboard the Lynx, which was about to go out on a training flight.

‘It was redirected to intercept the suspect vessel. Prince William remained on board until the helicopter returned to Iron Duke.

'He witnessed the firing but wasn’t involved in it. He then returned to ship to resume his normal duties as officer of the watch.’

Iron Duke began tracking the vessel eight days ago during a security patrol 110 miles off the coast near the Venezuela-Colombia border.

Up in flames: The captured speedboat blazes moments before it sank

In their sights: A gunner stands guard on HMS Iron Duke

Mark Newland, the frigate’s commanding officer, said: ‘My company are elated at again disrupting the activities of the suspected drug runners.’

William, 26, an officer in the Household Cavalry regiment, is spending five weeks on the ship as part of his Navy placement.

He also took part in the mission that seized £40million of cocaine off Barbados earlier this month.