French Navy Seizes $52 Million Worth of Cannabis in Mediterranean Drug Bust

26 May 2019 – bySaid@Bladi · 1 min read

The operation carried out last Thursday by the French customs services in the Mediterranean resulted in the seizure of several tons of cannabis, probably of Moroccan origin. The drugs were headed for Libya, before perhaps taking another direction.

According to the TF1 channel, the French navy and customs carried out this operation in international waters off the Algerian coast. A fast boat was transporting some 7.4 tons of drugs, the equivalent of 52 million euros. On board this boat were three men who were carrying Turkish passports.

After being monitored by plane, customs agents intervened using a zodiac. "The drugs were located right at the front of the boat in 32-kilo bales," it was explained, adding that the three drug traffickers did not put up any resistance and surrendered to the authorities.

According to the prosecutor in charge of this case, "these networks are flooding the European market and the products are found in particular in the Marseille neighborhoods as part of drug-related crime."

It should be noted that this seizure is the largest made in the Mediterranean Sea since 2013.