In the last few days the French authorities in Martinique conducted a maritime operation that has resulted in the seizure of 1183kg of cocaine on board a sailing vessel.
As a result of surveillance actions carried out by the French Customs (DNRED) stationed on this Caribbean island it was possible to detect the approach of 2 sailboats, a few nautical miles off the coast, which were transhipping a suspicious cargo between them.
The French authorities quickly put in motion an interdiction operation which resulted in the seizure of this significant quantity of cocaine and the arrest of the crew members of both vessels involved, originally from Croatia, Latvia, Estonia and Bulgaria.
Although investigations are still ongoing, it is believed that the final destination of this illicit cargo would be Europe.
In total, more than five tons of cocaine have been intercepted from or on Martinique since June 2021. This is due to the fact that the Caribbean is close to the three main cocaine producing countries, often transiting through the Caribbean islands to European countries.
