The commander of a British warship involved in a £250 million sterling (€348 million) drug raid in the mid-Atlantic described it today as "a great success".
Two British ships and two naval helicopters took part in the operation to board a former Second World War motor torpedo boat, recovering a record 3.6 tonnes of cocaine.
The commanding officer of the HMS Cumberland, Captain Mike Manser, said: "Both ships - and we had two naval helicopters with us - managed to converge on the vessel and, to its great surprise, we were suddenly there in the middle of the Atlantic, so they stopped very quickly".
"This enabled us to put Spanish customs officers on board the boat. They were certainly quite surprised and there was no resistance".
Customs and Excise said it was estimated a fifth of the cocaine - thought to be from Colombia - was destined for Britain. All eight men aboard the high-speed boat were arrested by Spanish customs officers.
The Cumberlandis now escorting the smugglers' vessel to Spain.