It's a nice catch.
Three hundred and seventy-seven kilos of herbal cannabis, hidden in a cargo of straw, were seized last week in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, on a truck from Spain whose Dutch driver was arrested, have indicated customs Thursday.
Customs officers checked on October 23 the refrigerated trailer truck, supposed to make a Spain-Netherlands trip, on a motorway rest area not far from the Spanish border.
With the help of a scanner truck, they were able to detect a difference in homogeneity in the very compact straw cargo.
They then extracted rows of straw with lifting gear, and discovered 329 packages of herbal cannabis, customs said in a statement.
Free straw for a farmer
The driver of the truck, a 43-year-old Dutchman, has been remanded in custody, and is due to appear before the Bayonne Criminal Court on November 19.
The operation, according to customs, confirms the trend which in 2020 saw cannabis herb become predominant, in seizures, to the detriment of cannabis resin.
Customs seized a total of 52.3 tonnes of cannabis in 2019.
The straw from the intercepted truck, 60 m3, was given free of charge to a farmer in the neighboring Landes department.
