Nine Tons of Cannabis Seized from Moroccan Truck Near Lyon After Anonymous Tip

It all began on the evening of April 21 at a gas station in Vitrolles (Bouches-du-Rhône), when the driver of the truck carrying the drugs was held up by criminals who seized his vehicle, said the gendarmerie, confirming information from Paris-Match. Following the reception of anonymous calls providing details to help locate the truck and its cargo, gendarmes from the Lyon research section (SR) immediately set up a surveillance operation.

"Through meticulous investigations, SR Lyon investigators discovered a Moroccan-registered truck combination, in which two hermetically sealed metal crates were found. Three other crates, already unloaded, contained carefully packaged cannabis resin," the gendarmerie emphasized. On April 22, an operation led by the Lyon SR, supported by several units from the Rhône departmental gendarmerie group, resulted in the seizure of 9.133 tons of resin and derivatives, estimated at 72 million euros in resale value.

Two men were indicted on April 27, notably for drug trafficking and armed robbery in an organized gang, specified Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau in a statement. The scale of this case led the local prosecutor’s office to hand it over to the National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organized Crime (Junalco). Currently, the General Directorate of the National Gendarmerie (DGGN) and the Anti-Narcotics Office (Ofast) are continuing the investigations.

This cannabis seizure is one of the largest ever made in France. The largest dates back to February 1999. At that time, customs officers in Boulogne-sur-Mer (North) discovered 23.5 tons of cannabis resin in the English Channel aboard a Latvian-flagged trawler, the Nemo.