The French navy has seized nearly 10 tonnes of cocaine, worth $610m (£540m), off the coast of West Africa, French authorities have reported.
Two naval vessels, part of Operation Corymbe, intercepted the significant cocaine haul from an unflagged fishing vessel on Monday, following a tip-off from maritime intelligence, anti-drug authorities, and the British National Crime Agency.
This operation forms part of France's efforts in the Gulf of Guinea, a region plagued by piracy since 1990, to fortify maritime security. The French navy revealed that since the beginning of the year, 54 tonnes of drugs have been intercepted in the area.
France's Atlantic Maritime Prefecture emphasized the role of “seamless cooperation by national and international actors” in this remarkable seizure, where 9.6 tonnes of cocaine were confiscated.
The Gulf of Guinea has become a notable transit point in global narcotics trafficking, particularly for cocaine from South America to Europe. The area was previously deemed the world’s most dangerous for maritime piracy, outstripping even the notorious waters off Somalia, prompting several Western nations to send patrol ships to combat these threats.
Historically, the French navy achieved a record cocaine seizure of 10.7 tonnes in March last year, marking the largest interception of illegal drugs off the West African coast.
