BRITAIN'S Foreign Aid chief Penny Mordaunt joined Britain's specialist heroin-busting squad in Africa as she pledged new cash to help authorities lock-up drug lords.

She took to the helm of a police boat off the coast of Tanzania to see first-hand how British expertise has caught 100kgs of heroin in the East-African country bound for Europe.

The amount of Afhgan heroin smuggled through ports on the Swahili coast has rocketed since the Taliban seized control in the early 2000s.

Now an estimated 40 per cent of all heroin transported across the West Indian Ocean is destined for Tanzania.

Most ends up being sold in Europe.

In addition, much of the heroin being smuggled into neighbouring Mozambique is then re-transported into Tanzania by land.

Ivory and other illegal wildlife are also smuggled through the country.

The new anti corruption action plan Ms Mordaunt announced during her visit will now help the Tanzanian police investigate crime such as the drugs trade and punish corruption.

She said: “Large quantities of illegal drugs being smuggled from Asia to Europe are channelled through Tanzania – which is undermining stability and holding back development in the country.

“We’re sharing UK expertise with the Tanzanian authorities to help them crack down on this serious organised crime, to interrupt supply chains and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“This is a win for Tanzania as we tackle the drivers of instability and poverty which hold back development – but also a win for the UK as we are tackling criminal networks that work in both countries and stopping drugs and organised crime coming to our shores."

The National Crime Agency is working with UK Border Force and the Royal Marines to improve the Tanzanian Navy and Tanzanian Drug Control and Enforcement Authority DCEA to catch drug traffickers bringing heroin into Tanzania on boats.

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It is also providing a British financial investigator who provides expertise to the Government of Tanzania’s corruption bureau – helping them to tackle organised crime and improve their ability to track down and seize the money earned from corruption and drug smuggling.

A British criminal justice advisor from the Crown Prosecution Service has improved international cooperation on serious criminal cases.