Angolan Wren Smuggled Cocaine into the UK Aboard Royal Navy Ship

Several newspaper failed to mention that the Royal Navy member arrested and charged for smuggling £5 million worth of cocaine into Britain aboard an active warship was an Angolan national - to my knowledge, only The Sun revealed this initially.

Is this relevant? Well, as the Armed Forces increasingly look to recruit abroad, it is almost a certainty standards will slip, and why shouldn't they?

Why should foreign nationals, especially those that don't even share the Queen as Head of State, be loyal to this country or its interests?

Another factor is that this is the kind of thing that happens when top brass only care about diversity targets and how colourful the place looks - rather than recruiting on ability, competence and quality alone.

The full story:

A Royal Navy Wren has been charged with drug-smuggling after bags of cocaine worth around £5million were allegedly found in her quarters.

Teresa Mato, 36, was arrested on board the HMS Manchester as it docked in Plymouth on its return from an anti-narcotics training operation in South America.

The Wren - a former refugee from Angola in South Africa - was arrested after customs officers searched her locker and allegedly found 12kg of cocaine sewn in packages into vests and around rucksacks.

The drugs haul would have a street value of £5million once it was 'cut' or bulked out with additives.

Bags of cocaine worth £5m were found on board Royal Navy warship HMS Manchester

Matos did not enter a plea as she spoke via video link from Eastwood Park Prison in Gloucester to Plymouth Magistrates Court.

Reporting restrictions were lifted today at the beginning of a committal hearing.

The court heard Matos, who came to the UK five years ago, joined the Navy in 2007 and had an 'unblemished record'.

She had spent the last seven months at sea on the HMS Manchester, which stopped off in the Falklands, South Georgia and Rio de Janeiro, before cruising to Colombia's Caribbean coast for drug interdiction training.

The investigation has been handed to the Serious Organised Crime Agency, which arrested three civilians from the London area on Wednesday, August 12, in connection with the find.

A spokesman said: 'Following a search aboard HMS Manchester, a junior rating was discovered to be in possession of suspected quantity of Class A drugs.

'She was arrested by Royal Navy police on August 10 and handed over to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs in Plymouth during a planned anchorage.

'The junior rating and the three men were charged with the importation of controlled drugs.'

'This is a quantity indicative of a large criminal enterprise involving many, many people.

'This is a large amount of drugs and, if found guilty, the defendant will face a very lengthy prison sentence.

'Taking into account HMS Manchester visited Colombia during its last voyage before entering Plymouth, it seems this is part of an international drug smuggling operation.

'Mobile phone records will need to be checked, e-mails will need to be trawled through, and the drugs also need to be tested for their purity before we know the true scale of this.'

The SOCA spokeswoman confirmed that three men appeared in court in Portsmouth last week and were remanded in custody.

A Royal Navy spokeswoman added: 'The Ministry of Defence will co-operate fully with any investigation that involves service personnel.

'The Royal Navy demands the highest standard of conduct from our personnel and anyone who falls short of that is dealt with robustly.'

Mato's Commanding Officer, Commander Paul Beattie, said: 'We return to the UK having made a significant contribution to the security of the Falkland Islands and the counter-narcotics effort in the Caribbean and Atlantic Oceans.

'Our periods in South America have served to develop familiarity, trust and co-operation with a number of pivotal, regional allies and have established the foundation for future engagement with the Columbian and Peruvian Navies.

'My ship's company return to the UK proud of a job well done and looking forward to a period of maintenance and recuperation.'

Mato will next appear at Plymouth Magistrates Court on September 15.

A job well done. Nelson must be turning in his grave.