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December 3, 2009

By Cindy Clayton
The Virginian-Pilot
© December 3, 2009

NORFOLK

The guided-missile cruiser Anzio is scheduled to return to Norfolk on Friday from deployment, the Navy announced.

In October, the Anzio’s crew seized four tons of illegal drugs worth $28 million from a skiff in the Gulf of Aden, according to the Navy.

The crew spotted a skiff speeding about 170 miles southwest of Salalah, Oman, on Oct. 15. The area where the skiff was spotted is known as “Hash Highway,” but the Anzio’s crew suspected the skiff was carrying pirates and pursued it briefly.

The drugs were found when members of the Anzio’s crew, including Navy and Coast Guard officers, boarded and searched the skiff, according to the release.

The drugs were thrown overboard and destroyed, the release says.

Officers believe the drugs would have helped fund insurgents fighting coalition forces in Afghanistan, according to the Navy. The bust was a first for the Anzio, deployed as the flagship for Combined Task Force 151, according to the release. The task force, formed in January, conducts counter-piracy operations.