The Prefect of Guyana announced Thursday the systematization of the control of passengers boarding at Félix-Eboué airport, near Cayenne, bound for France, in order to fight against cocaine trafficking.
“It will be systematized”
, assured the prefect Thierry Queffelec, after a meeting at the airport with the services concerned.
“We are in the first month, we are already talking about a quarter, a semester (…) We have to make it something sustainable”
, he added.
According to the figures communicated by the prefect, since the beginning of November, 93 kilos of cocaine have been seized at the airport, only 17% were transported by "mules" who had ingested the drug to ensure transport to the metropolis. .
Five networks dismantled in September
The rest was concealed by other means.
During the same month, 844 people were the subject of a non-admission order and were unable to board.
“If the offenders do not deliver, their whole system falls, we collect information to go up the channels”
, underlined the prefect, specifying that Félix-Eboué
“it is the only French airport to set up this organization”.
For the public prosecutor, Yves Le Clair, who participated in the meeting, "
this system made it possible to do qualitative and not quantitative (...) At the beginning of September, five networks had been dismantled".
Read alsoGuyana: 1,260 kg of cocaine intercepted by customs in 2021
At the entrance to the airport, passengers bound for France are questioned by the police on several subjects, such as the reason for their trip.
Depending on the responses, some may be pushed aside for further questioning.
There is a
“behavioral analysis”
part , explained Commissioner Thierry Baures, head of the territorial service of the Guyana border police.
Checked baggage is all subjected to X-rays. According to a senatorial report presented in 2020, 15 to 20% of the country's cocaine supply passes through Guyana and 8 to 10 smugglers take place on each flight to France.