The Armed Forces in the Antilles intercepted a boat carrying around 300 bales of drugs on the night of 14 to 15 August. Since the beginning of the year, 28 tonnes of cocaine have been seized in the area.
The French Navy has carried out a “record seizure” more than 10 tonnes of cocaine on a fishing vessel approximately 1,220 kilometres off the coast of Martinique, the Armed Forces in the Antilles (FAA) announced on Monday. The patrol boat La Confiance intercepted this vessel on the night of August 14-15, discovering “about 300 bales” tested positive for cocaine, the FAA said in a statement. “In total, the seized bales represent an unprecedented weight of 10,552 kg, making them the second largest seizure by the French Navy,” according to the same source.
After its interception, the ship and its cargo were brought back to Fort-de-France, Martinique, by the frigate Ventôse and handed over to the Caribbean branch of the anti-narcotics office (Ofast), which was entrusted with the investigations.
“A judicial investigation has been opened into charges of offences against the legislation on narcotics as part of an organised gang, criminal association and aggravated possession of category B weapons”, adds the press release, which specifies that nine people – six of Brazilian nationality, two of Colombian nationality and one of Venezuelan nationality – were presented to a judge of the specialized interregional jurisdiction (JIRS) of Fort-de-France and incarcerated.
The operation is “the fruit of close inter-service, inter-service and international cooperation”, say the FAA, which reveals that it was made possible on the basis of information transmitted by the British National Crime Agency (NCA) and the American Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), in connection with Ofast. “This new intervention brings to almost 28 tonnes the quantity of cocaine intercepted by the FAA” since the beginning of the year and is equivalent to almost all of the seizures made in 2023, which amounted to eleven tonnes.
Maritime transport is the main gateway for cocaine into France, with 75.4% of the quantities seized in 2022 (84% in 2021). Most of the powder comes from the three major producing countries: Colombia, Peru, Bolivia. Experts estimate the total volume of cocaine offered on the world market in 2021 at more than 2,000 tons, two-thirds of which comes from Colombia.