Is drug running really easy money?

The Independent's Tom Sutcliffe claims that the drug bust by HMS Iron Duke is likely to make people think: 'Just look at how much this stuff is worth, it seems to say, and how relatively easy it is to hide it. Isn't this a business you should be thinking of getting into?'
It certainly did nothing to attract me to the 'glamour' world of international drug smuggling.
But what I found more concerning was the trouble that the gunners on the Iron Duke had in hitting a stationary target back in July.
Just look at the ammo they used - couldn't they just have pulled the plug?