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French Customs Seize 4 Tons of Moroccan Cannabis in Mediterranean Sea Operation
Sunday 26 September 2021, by
The French customs, in coordination with the Toulon public prosecutor and the maritime customs operational center in Marseille (CODM), managed to seize four tons of Moroccan cannabis resin hidden in a fishing vessel south of the economic zone of France in the Mediterranean Sea.
The operation took place on September 13 in the Mediterranean Sea. A fishing vessel without nationality was intercepted in international waters, "between the Strait of Gibraltar and the Sicilian Channel," the maritime prefecture said in a statement. "The vessel was without a flag, without any visible markings on the hull, and its trajectory did not appear to correspond to normal fishing activity," Thibault Lavernhe, communication officer at "Prémarmed", told AFP. In total, 4 tons of drugs were found and seized.
"Drug trafficking is known to contribute to the financing of organized crime or terrorism," the maritime prefecture said in its statement. "The most worrying route starts from northern Morocco," it is specified. A total of 57 tons of cannabis were seized in the first half of the year, an increase of 37% compared to the same period in 2020. "Since the beginning of the year, the navy alone has seized 29 tons of drugs, mainly in the Indian Ocean and the West Indies, twice as much as in 2019," Lavernhe also said.