§ 13. Mr. David ShawTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assistance the Royal Navy and Royal Marines are now giving to tackling the threat from drug trafficking.
§ Mr. HanleyThe Ministry of Defence does not provide dedicated resources for anti-drugs operations, but we are prepared to give the armed forces assistance when asked to do so by other Government Departments and where operational commitments and resources allow.
§ Mr. ShawDoes my hon. Friend accept that we welcome the role of the Royal Navy in trying to defeat drug smugglers at sea and congratulate the Royal Navy on the way in which it has recently apprehended a number of ships on the high seas? Does he also accept that we hope that the Royal Navy will be given all possible support to ensure that the south American drug dealers are dealt a nasty lesson and told that they cannot import drugs into this country, as they have been doing, and that we should show them that we mean business?
§ Mr. HanleyI thank my hon. Friend for that tribute to the Royal Navy, which is richly deserved. The House may be interested to know that in the past month the Royal Navy has helped to recovery more than £120 million-worth of drugs. Not only was nearly 1 tonne of cocaine recovered earlier this month by HMS Active, the West Indies guard ship, but, in a most remarkable episode, to which my hon. Friend referred, HMS Avenger, Royal Fleet Auxiliary Olna and HMS Guernsey helped to recover almost £20 million of cannabis off our shores. That is a most useful role for the Royal Navy, but it is not one of our dedicated commitments. We shall, however, continue to help the Home Office and Customs and Excise whenever possible.
§ Mr. MorganDoes the Minister agree that the way in which British armed forces can help to deter drugs smuggling is by retaining the British garrison in Belize? Does he agree that he and his Home Office colleagues must carry out a full evaluation of the impact of the arrival of cocaine and crack in our inner cities and north American inner cities if the British garrison is withdrawn from Belize, as the Government intend? I am sure that he will accept that the withdrawal of the British garrison from such a poor country as Belize will leave it wide open to the depredations of the Colombian cocaine cartel.
§ Mr. HanleyThe reason for our defence presence in Belize is that, since its independence, Belize has needed us to take on its defence responsibilities. Belize has now grown and has agreed with us that it should take on its own defence responsibilities from next year. In the meantime, we have our West Indies guard ship which, as I explained, helped to recover £100 million-worth of cocaine earlier this month. We will continue to use our defence forces and the remaining forces that will be carrying out jungle training in Belize for whatever purposes they are best suited. I hope that that will include managing to slop the evil trade in drugs which flow through from south America.