More than eight tons of cocaine have been intercepted by the French navy in Martinique in recent days, almost as much as all the seizures made during the entire past year.
More than eight tons of cocaine were intercepted in a few days by the French navy in Martinique. Eight tonnes is almost as much as was seized over the whole of last year, in normal times.
Dozens of bales of cocaine seized from a sailboat are unloaded by soldiers from the patrol boat La Combattante. It was February 26, 2024.
Two days earlier, the frigate Le Germinal returned to base with more than six tons recovered from two fishing vessels. These operations were carried out 1100 nautical miles from the Antilles.
In less than 10 days, 8.3 tonnes of cocaine were seized in the French Caribbean. A record, since last year, the authorities intercepted a total of 11 tons of drugs.
Eight people have been indicted and will be tried in Martinique. They risk up to 30 years of imprisonment and a fine of 7.5 million euros. One of the Venezuelan crew was handed over to his country’s justice system.
By investigating these cases, French justice hopes to trace the links between Latin American producers and European buyers.