Estimated resale price in Europe: over 7 million euros.
A few days ago, the French Navy was able to intercept a Spanish sailboat west of Barbados, in the Caribbean Sea.
An action that allowed the seizure of 210 kilos of cocaine, largely hidden in the structure of the boat, by the teams of OFAST, the Anti-Narcotic Office in Martinique, we learned Monday from a judicial source .
The sailboat of more than 12 meters was intercepted by a French Navy frigate, the Ventôse, on the night of April 15 to 16.
The crew consisted of two men, a 43-year-old Estonian and a 64-year-old Latvian.
The 210 kilograms of cocaine found on board were intended for the European market.
According to the prosecutor of the Republic of Fort-de-France, Renaud Gaudeul, the ship "arrived from Europe, had gone to Marin (in Martinique Editor's note), then off the Guyana plateau, in order to load its merchandise, and from there, would have undertaken a priori the return transatlantic, the most direct route to Europe ”.
Particularly well concealed merchandise
At sea, when the sailboat was intercepted, the Ventôse sailors had found only 20 kg, or 17 loaves of drugs.
“After 2 days of searches at sea, they haven't found any more.
The peculiarity of this case is the care taken by individuals to hide the merchandise, ”says Renaud Gaudeul.
"It was not until they were handed over to OFAST for a partially destructive search of the ship to be carried out for the additional 190 kg".
“This is the first sailboat intercepted this year in the Caribbean,” said an OFAST official who coordinated this mission.
A mode of transport that had been abandoned over the past 4 or 5 years in favor of the go-fasts and tapouilles (fishing boats) of South America.
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The two suspected drug traffickers were presented to an investigating magistrate of the Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction (Jirs) of Fort-de-France on Friday.
They were indicted on charges of drug trafficking in an organized gang and criminal association in connection with this offense and imprisoned at the Ducos prison in Martinique.
They face up to 30 years in prison.
The army also announces this Monday another seizure, of three tons of cannabis this time, which was carried out last Thursday, in the Gulf of Oman.
[# Indian Ocean] 2nd entry #NARCOPS for the FLF Guépratte!
On 04/22, the Guépratte seized 3 tonnes of cannabis resin on board a suspicious dhow in the Gulf of Oman.
The destruction of drugs hinders the financing of terrorism and organized crime.
# Our Defense pic.twitter.com/9zbrTgqhzY
- French Army - Military operations (@EtatMajorFR) April 26, 2021
According to the army, "more than 5 tons of narcotics" have been seized in the Caribbean Sea "since the beginning of the year 2021".
In March, French army ships had achieved a record week on the anti-narcotics front.
They had seized 8.7 tons of drugs in a few days in the Indian Ocean and more than six tons of cocaine in the Gulf of Guinea.
"In seven days, 14.7 tons of narcotics had been seized, a real record over such a short period", according to the Ministry of the Armed Forces. In the whole of 2020, seizures of narcotics by the French Navy represented a total of 8.3 tonnes.