Interception at sea off Nova Scotia

The Navy in action in our waters (via Spotlight on Military News and International Affairs):

It happened mostly how police, the coast guard and the navy thought it would: a large sailboat filled with stack upon stack of packaged hash oil approached the Nova Scotia coastline in the black of night.

A small vessel was nearby, ready to transfer the drugs quickly and quietly to waiting vehicles before they would drive off into the darkness.

And by early Sunday morning, 12 suspects - who police say are part of an Ontario-based organized crime group - were under arrest after the covert takedown west of Halifax.

Cmdr. Bob Auchterlonie, captain of the navy frigate used in the operation, described the reaction on the sailboat as the vessel was boarded.

"To say surprised is a bit of an understatement," Auchterlonie told a news conference on Monday.

"It's four o'clock in the morning, you're sailing your ship ... and you find a 5,000 tonne warship very close astern with guys in black suits jumping on your boat."

Officers seized 751 kilograms of hash oil packaged in vacuum-sealed pouches, believed to be destined for Ontario, during the overnight operation near Liscomb.

The 12 suspects, who appeared in a Dartmouth court Monday, each face four drug-related charges, including possession for the purpose of trafficking.

No names were released, but police said 11 of the accused are Canadian citizens and one suspect is a foreign national.

Police also seized a small pleasure craft, a 12-metre speedboat and a 14-metre sailboat that officers dubbed the "Mother Ship" in the smuggling operation.

The sailboat was taken to the military's Shearwater air base near Halifax where it was being investigated.

RCMP said the drugs were shipped on the sailboat from the Caribbean an sailed up the eastern seaboard to Nova Scotia.

Insp. Brian Brennan said a speedboat went out to meet the sailboat and was being used to transport the drug cargo to land.

Most of the arrests were made on shore.

Meanwhile, police officers aboard HMCS Fredericton - which had shut off all its lights in order to sail undetected - approached the so-called Mother Ship.

Brennan would not say what the hash oil would sell for on the street, but said the seizure was "significant."

"It takes a group a long time to plan such an importation. There's really no expense spared to bring this quantity of drugs into Canada," he said.

"The amount of drugs alone, in itself, is an indication of what organized crime will go through to bring drugs into this country."

Police said the group accused of running the smuggling operation is well-known in Ontario, but they didn't provide any more details about the organization.

The drugs were likely being smuggled in through Nova Scotia because the province can be accessed easily by sea, said Brennan.

"I think one of the things that leads organized crime to using the East Coast is the vast coastline, the small communities, the small bays," he said. "The ability to use the geography of the area to work in a covert type of environment."

Aside from the Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP also worked with the drug section of Halifax Regional Police, Hamilton police in Ontario and the Canadian Coast Guard.

Babbling was on board the Fredericton two years ago.