Bags with 2 tonnes of cocaine wash up ashore on Normandy coast in France

Bags with over 2 tonnes of cocaine have washed up on the coast in northern France in the previous few days. The drug was present in two batches of watertight packages on the Normandy coast, one on Sunday and one other on Wednesday.

New Delhi,UPDATED: Mar 3, 2023 15:21 IST

Gendarmes of the canine ‘cynophile’ unit patrol the Blankenese battery on Néville seaside. (Photo: AFP)

By India Today World Desk: Sealed luggage with 2.3 tonnes of cocaine have washed up on the coast in northern France up to now few days. Huge portions of the drug have been present in two batches, one on Sunday and one other on Wednesday, of watertight packages on the Normandy coast.

The complete road worth of the cocaine is estimated at €150m.

On Sunday, on the Néville seaside, a number of luggage containing about 850 kg of cocaine have been discovered. On Wednesday, six extra luggage have been discovered on a close-by seaside, Vicq-sur-Mer.

Police are nonetheless unsure the place the cocaine got here from – whether or not traffickers intentionally threw the baggage overboard to keep away from arrest, or in the event that they got here free from their boats in heavy climate, sources within the investigation instructed AFP.

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Local maritime authorities have been on “special watch” over the realm utilizing plane.

In 2019, about 1.6 tonnes of cocaine was discovered strewn all alongside the French Atlantic coast.

The French authorities stated that it had seized 27 tonnes of cocaine final 12 months, as a surge was witnessed in trafficking and use of the drug in Europe.

Seizures have been up 5 per cent final 12 months in contrast with 2021, in line with inside ministry figures, with greater than half of the narcotics coming from the West Indies and French Guiana.

(With inputs from AFP)

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Published On:

Mar 3, 2023