The French army and the Atlantic maritime prefecture announced that a frigate engaged in Operation Corymbe, a permanent mission to monitor and secure the Gulf of Guinea, seized 2.4 tonnes of cocaine off the coast of West Africa on a fishing boat.
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With our regional correspondent, François Hume-Ferkatadji
Without specifying the exact location, the Atlantic maritime prefecture indicates that the frigate Ventôse has “ seized 2,435 kg of cocaine from an unflagged fishing boat ”, off the coast of West Africa. Ventôse was supported by a Falcon 50 detached to Dakar, and a Dauphin helicopter stationed on board the ship. A major seizure therefore, the value of which could reach several tens of millions of euros.
In images provided by the French navy, we can observe an old rusty trawler 20 meters long in the open sea, boarded by a zodiac and around ten French soldiers who questioned the crew. According to the press release, the drugs were immediately destroyed on the French military boat.
#CECLANT | 21.09 at dawn, the surveillance frigate Ventôse intercepts 1 ship suspected of transporting narcotics in the Gulf of Guinea, under the direction of the Maritime Prefect of the Atlantic and the public prosecutor of Brest. 2.4t of cocaine seized and destroyed. pic.twitter.com/HGabfbdn0Q
— Maritime Prefecture and Chief Command ATLANT (@premar_ceclant) September 22, 2023
Increasingly important traffic passing through West Africa
This seizure is the result of an investigation carried out by the Brazilian federal police in cooperation with the American and British drug trafficking services. The fishing boat was from Brazil. Was the fishing boat going directly to Europe or was it planning to stop at a West African port? The investigation will determine this.
In recent years, one of the main drug routes between South America and Europe has passed through West Africa, which has become a trafficking hub. In April 2022, 2 tons of cocaine, estimated at 62 million euros, were seized in Abidjan and San Pedro, prelude to a series of raids on Ivorian business circles, accused of being involved in a vast international drug trafficking network. Colombian, Brazilian, Portuguese, Nigerian, Moroccan and Spanish citizens were also arrested. The trial has not yet taken place.
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