This is the record for the start of the year.
A major seizure of a drug that was intended to supply the French market.
According to corroborating sources, the police from the Anti-Narcotic Office (OFAST) seized 600 kg of cocaine on Thursday morning in a transport company located a few kilometers from Le Havre.
The market value of the product exceeds 20 million euros.
For three weeks now, OFAST investigators have been tracking this container loaded with cocaine and coffee shipped from Guatemala.
A foreign police service had indeed informed the French authorities of the arrival of this exceptional cargo passed through the ports of Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Antwerp (Belgium) before being disembarked on Wednesday in the port of Havre, the main gateway for cocaine in France, where thousands of containers from all over the world pass through every day.
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In hideout for hours, the police assist, Thursday morning, the exit of the container loaded with cocaine by a transport company.
The latter was exonerated, the driver not being aware of the illegal nature of his cargo.
For several kilometers, the truck is tracked by investigators.
The container arrived at the premises of the transport company, three men show up to retrieve the cargo of coffee ... They are arrested by the Ofast police officers, as well as a docker from the port of Le Havre who was returned to freedom after a few hours in police custody.
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In the container that they have been tracking for several days, the investigators actually discovered the 600 kg of cocaine mentioned by the service which alerted them.
Directly arrived from South America, cocaine is being analyzed but “this kind of product is generally very pure and can be cut three or four times before reaching the market, underlines a person close to the investigations.
On resale, this drug could have brought in more than 60 million euros.
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Only the "little hands" were arrested
Placed in police custody, the three men remained silent during the 96 hours of interrogation.
Little thugs known locally, they clearly do not have the profile to be at the origin of the importation of such a quantity of cocaine.
“They are undoubtedly only intermediaries, underlines a source close to the investigation.
The big traffickers use small hands so as not to take risks when recovering the goods.
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Presented this Monday to an investigating judge of the specialized interregional jurisdiction of Lille, the three suspects were indicted.
Investigators will now try to find out for whom this large-scale cargo was intended.
