between Cayenne and Paris, an air bridge for the transport of cocaine

In Orly (Val-de-Marne), when a flight from Cayenne (Guyana) arrives, customs officers are on the lookout, looking for the slightest suspicious detail. Every morning, they ask the same questions. The routine search continues, and that day, customs officers come across a suspicious white mass. 623 grams of cocaine have just been seized. The smuggler was transporting drugs for money. “We have two flights a day here, and we have arrests almost every day.“, confides Olivier Gourdon, the head of customs controls.

To smuggle drugs, traffickers have imagination: nut shells, cans of fish or preserves. Last year, 512 mules were arrested at Cayenne airport, a veritable cocaine hub. Drugs are a scourge in the area, as the locals are poor and willing to accept easy money. This is the case of Tonio Pollux. Burdened with debt and with a dependent child, he gave in. He ended up being arrested and served a year in prison in Fleury-Mérogis (Essonne). An association now supports him in his reintegration.