Dozens of bales were floating in the open sea. Between 650 and 700 kg of cocaine were seized in November off the coast of Fécamp (Seine-Maritime), according to sources close to the investigation. The discovery was made “by chance” by a fisherman, according to one of these sources.
According to the site News 17, the goods were estimated at 22 million euros for wholesale purchases. “It could be a drop off [largage en mer] which partially failed,” according to the second source close to the investigation.
Monitored ports
THE drop off consists of traffickers dropping bales of drugs at sea, sometimes linked together by ropes, which a second boat is responsible for recovering on behalf of the recipients. “We have seen a drop in the volume of seizures at ports in recent months, but an increase in drop off. Today it’s more complicated to get goods out of ports,” said Stéphanie Cherbonnier, head of Ofast (Anti-Narcotics Office), in November.
In April, Italian customs police recovered two tonnes of cocaine, worth 400 million euros, packaged in 70 bales drifting in the open sea near Sicily. In 2022, more than 27.7 tonnes of cocaine were seized in France, according to the Ministry of the Interior.