Innocent-looking Dhows Can Carry Deadly Cargo

摘要

The dhows that ply the waters of the Arabian Gulf, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean from East Africa to India look much today as they have for generations, carrying trade throughout the Middle East. While appearing to be relatively small, slow and unsophisticated, the wooden vessels can still carry a large quantity of fish or cargo -or weapons and narcotics... The recent seizure of illicit cargoes being transported on stateless dhows by coalition naval forces underscores the ongoing threat. While conducting maritime interdiction operations, USS Monterey (CG 61) seized an enormous stash of illicit weapons found aboard a stateless dhow in international waters of the North Arabian Sea on May 6-7. USS Monterey and its embarked US Coast Guard Advanced Interdiction Team (AIT) discovered the illicit cargo during a routine flag verification boarding conducted in international water in accordance with customary international law.