French Navy Seizes 435kg Cannabis with Surveillance Frigate

The French Armed Forces in the Antilles (FAA) seized a suspicious boat carrying 435kg of cannabis using the Floréal-class frigate Germinal.

The boat had “no visible mark of nationality,” the French defense ministry said in a statement. It was seized off the coast of Guadeloupe archipelago.

The boat, with five occupants on board, fled as the soldiers approached, while throwing bundles into the sea, before being stopped. 11 bales of cannabis were recovered. This seizure represents a loss of more than one million euros for drug traffickers, the ministry said.

On the instructions of the public prosecutor of Fort-de-France, the narcotics, the boat and the suspects were handed over to the Caribbean branch of the Anti-Narcotics Office (OFAST).

This second seizure of the year 2022 for the FAA follows the operation carried out by Germinal on January 29 which made it possible to recover 680 kg of cocaine.