More than 4 tons of cannabis resin were seized from a fishing vessel in mid-September in the Mediterranean by a French customs patrol vessel, the Mediterranean maritime prefecture announced on Thursday.
The boat was spotted by a Customs Beechcraft 350 surveillance plane between the Strait of Gibraltar and the Sicily Canal, during an anti-drug operation organized between September 10 and 17 in the southern Mediterranean, under the authority of the maritime prefecture and the customs coastguard service (SGCD).
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The vessel had no flag, no visible external mark on the hull, and its route did not appear to correspond to normal fishing activity, Commander Thibault Lavernhe told AFP.
After analysis of the photos of the ship, the maritime prefect and the director of the SGCD, with the agreement of the prosecutor of Toulon, authorized the customs patrol officer “
Jean-François Deniau
” to proceed with its interception and inspection.
A thorough search of the ship on September 13 led to the discovery of a cavity behind a bulkhead in which 4.2 tonnes of cannabis resin packaged in 134 bales were found.
57 tonnes of cannabis seized since the start of the year
Transported to France, the narcotics were cremated.
On the other hand, the ten or so sailors on board were left free and the boat was able to resume sea. “
Since the implementation in France of the principle of dissociation, we can choose to take everything: the boat, the crew and cargo, or be interested only in flows, that is to say in cargo.
This is what has been done.
It's a fairly common procedure
, ”said Commander Lavernhe.
The Minister of Public Accounts Olivier Dussopt welcomed an “
exceptional seizure
” and paid tribute to the “
remarkable work
” of customs officers.
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Drug seizures in France jumped during the first half of the year, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin stressed in mid-August.
In the first six months, 57 tonnes of cannabis were seized, 37% more compared to the same period in 2020, already a record year.
“
Since the beginning of the year, the national navy alone has seized 29 tonnes of drugs, mainly in the Indian Ocean and the West Indies, or twice as many as in 2019,
” said Commander Lavernhe: “
In Mediterranean, the most worrying route starts from the North of Morocco
”.
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