Nearly 2.6 tons of cannabis, hidden in three trucks, were seized by customs officers from several brigades in the South-West, a few days after the seizure in mid-April of three tons of cannabis resin in Arles, said Wednesday 28 April the Ministry of the Economy.
Read also: Has cannabis become a hard drug?
On April 16, agents of the Narbonne (Aude) brigade found in a trailer of a road assembly "
Moroccan suitcases hidden under black plastic
", containing 844.94 kg of cannabis resin, according to a press release from the ministry. The same day, the customs officers of the Hendaye brigade (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) stop a heavy truck towing a refrigerated trailer containing 1,170 kilos of resin and 28 kilos of cannabis herb, adds the same source. And on April 18, officers from the Port-Vendres and Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) brigades discovered 555 kilos of cannabis resin hidden in the bumper of the trailer of a road unit intended to transport salads to the Italy, further specifies the ministry.
"
These three large-scale seizures have resulted in a net loss of nearly 17 million euros for criminal organizations,
" said Olivier Dussopt, Minister Delegate in charge of Public Accounts in the press release.
In Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône), three tons of cannabis resin hidden in a truckload of tomatoes had been seized in mid-April by customs officers at a toll and the two drivers, of Moroccan nationality, arrested.
In 2020, customs seized more than 60 tonnes of cannabis in France, up 15% from 2019, a drug that is mainly transported by road while cocaine is more by sea.
