Another drug find in the Caribbean

The French navy was once again successful in the fight against drug smuggling in the second week of February. In the dark, the crew of the frigate Germinal a suspicious boat without a national emblem in the south-west of the island of Saint-Martin. As the frigate approached the boat, it turned away and tried to flee. During the pursuit, the men and women on board the naval vessel were able to document 15 packages being thrown into the sea. They eventually managed to stop the boat and arrest the three occupants. In the hours that followed, the Germinal 11 of the 15 packages and fished them out of the water. As expected, the contents were illegal: 364 kilograms of cocaine were seized. The smugglers' cocaine, which probably totalled around 500 kilograms, has a market value of 2.5 million euros in the Caribbean. If they had reached Europe, drug dealers could have realised 15 million euros. Following their arrest, the smugglers were handed over to the relevant judicial authorities at the Fort-de-France naval base along with their potentially lethal cargo.
The operation was made possible by the successful cooperation between Marine Nationale and US Customs and Border Protection, Air and Marine Operations. As early as 17 January, the GerminalIn this way, 4.2 tonnes of cocaine were found.
The frigate Germinal belongs to the Floréal-class and is assigned to the Forces armées aux Antilles, the French armed forces of the Antilles. With a length of 93 metres, it displaces 2600 tonnes. The crew consists of around 100 men and women.

Text: mb; Photo: Marine Nationale