SOME 23 soldiers from the legendary Desert Rats have tested positive for cocaine in the Army’s “biggest ever” drugs bust.
The highly trained sappers from the Royal Engineers have been given their marching orders.
Top Brass ordered the drugs test five days before Christmas after one of the troops was arrested for possession of Class A drugs.
It thought to be the biggest bust since 19 troops from the Yorkshire Regiment faced a similar crackdown five years ago.
Both of the units were based in Catterick, North Yorkshire.
Around 250 troops from the 32 Engineer Regiment were ordered to provide urine samples at Marine Barracks on December 20.
Almost 1 in 10 of those ordered to do so tested positive for cocaine.
The combat engineers are part of 7 Brigade which earned its nickname the “Desert Rats” from Nazis who couldn’t defeat them during World War Two.
An army source said: “This is massive. Drugs busts keep getting bigger and bigger, but for one regiment to lose 23 blokes in one go is almost unheard of.”
They added: “The regiment is roughly 550 strong, so this means is losing almost 5 per cent of its total trained strength.”
It is a major blow to the Army which is on course to dip blow 70,000 men for the first time in 300 years.
The Sun previously revealed that 7,000 troops have been booted out for taking drugs over the last 8 years.
A defence source said the soaring drug use was because the “Army reflects society where drug taking has become more prevalent”.
A soldier claimed the sappers had been taking drugs because they were “bored”.
He continued: “The majority weren’t even that bothered about getting kicked out, because they were getting so bored.”
“That’s the biggest number I’ve heard of getting kicked out for doing drugs – before it’s only been groups of three or four.”
Prince Harry was given special permission to leave his Army Air Corps base when it was locked down for a drugs test a few days after his brother Prince William’s wedding in 2011.
Comrades said he was seen racing away from RAF Wattisham, Suffolk, in his souped up Audi A3 after Royal aides claimed he was needed in London on “urgent palace business”.
He later admitted to smoking cannabis in his bombshell memoir Spare.
“Substance abuse is unacceptable in the Army,” an Army spokesperson said.
“We robustly enforce a zero-tolerance policy to drug use by all those who serve and provide an education programme to inform all personnel of the dangers and consequences of substance misuse.
“A number of soldiers from 32 Engineer Regiment recently failed a compulsory drugs test.
“As the matter is the subject of an ongoing internal investigation it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
