HMCS Athabaskan going to Caribbean for Operation Caribbe

A Canadian warship has been dispatched from Halifax to the Caribbean to take part in a multinational mission to thwart illicit trafficking and organized crime.

HMCS Athabaskan will be part of Operation Caribbe, which includes tours of the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern Pacific off the coasts of Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Ecuador.

The mission involves tracking and possibly intercepting suspicious vessels, enabling law enforcement agencies to take action.

The destroyer is expected to join the operation later this month.

It will be the sixth Royal Canadian Navy ship to deploy for the mission since the beginning of the year.

The warship will also participate in the bicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans in Louisiana.