The Armed Forces in the Antilles (FAA) seized around seven tonnes of cocaine on three separate boats in one week, or more than half of the quantity intercepted by these French soldiers over the whole of 2023, AFP learned on Thursday from source close to the file.
At least three tonnes of white powder were recovered on February 20 by the crew of the Germinal in the Atlantic Ocean, some 3,000 km from the coast of Martinique, a French overseas department and home base of this FAA frigate.
Four men arrested
Four men aged between 30 and 61 - a South African, a Russian and two British - were on board this boat, which flew the Panamanian flag.
They were handed over to the police forces in Fort-de-France last Monday, a police source told AFP.
Panama abandoned its jurisdiction in this case, which led to the referral to the Ofast (anti-narcotics office) of the Caribbean, under the authority of the Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction (Jirs) of Fort-de-France, according to this source.
Another boat carrying three tonnes of cocaine was boarded by the crew of the surveillance frigate in the same week, said a source close to the matter, without specifying the date of this interception.
Finally, an additional ton was recovered from a third ship on Monday.
Triple operation
This triple operation carried out in one week represents more than half of the seizures made by the Armed Forces in the Antilles last year: the French Navy withdrew more than 11 tonnes of narcotics from the market in 2023, including a record seizure of 3.5 tons.
The sea route is the main gateway for coke into French territory: 27.7 tonnes of cocaine were intercepted in 2022, an increase of 5% compared to 2021, a figure multiplied by five in 10 years.