A HEROIC Greenock soldier serving in Bosnia made a daring swoop on a gang of smugglers and caught them red-handed with a £7 million haul of heroin.

Private Barry Aitken, 26, of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, led a patrol with three other soldiers to ambush the criminals on their first day of operational duties in the war-torn country.

The 27kg find of the killer drug at a border roadblock is one of the Balkans" largest ever seizures of heroin.

The drama unfolded at a vehicle checkpoint near Pavlovica, on the bridge that joins Bosnia with Serbia and Montenegro.

Private Aitken, and his fellow soldiers - Privates John Fay, 18, from Paisley, Christopher Moffat, 19, from Renfrew, and Thomas Rankine, 23, from Falkirk - lay hidden by the roadside, in a technique perfected on tour in Northern Ireland, and jumped out in front of the smugglers" car.

The traffickers were surrounded by the men from A Company and taken away in an Army Lynx helicopter to be interviewed by Bosnian police after Monday's swoop.

The unit"s commanding officer, Colonel Simon West, said: 'This is a fine example of the Jocks" alertness and flexibility for these types of operations, and I am very proud of this result for the regiment.

'The soldiers are excellent at working with other nations" security forces following our tour in Iraq last year, and they have appreciated the experience and expertise that Argyll soldiers have brought to this international mission.' A spokesperson for the European Union Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Eufor), which co-ordinates the EU peacekeeping mission in the region, said: 'Given the significance of the seizure, Eufor is assisting local authorities with the security of the drugs and evidence.'