French customs authorities have seized nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine worth an estimated €225 million (about US$261.45 million) from a container of plastic waste that arrived at the northern port of Dunkirk from Ghana.
The seizure, according to Reuters, was made on Thursday, September 10.
According to France’s organised crime prosecutor’s office, the cocaine was concealed inside the container, which was reportedly destined partly for Antwerp in Belgium.
French authorities said the seizure followed a targeted operation by the judicial police against a criminal network suspected of being behind the shipment.
The cocaine has since been destroyed, while prosecutors have opened an investigation into the shipment and the network allegedly responsible.
The investigation is focused on offences including the organised importation of narcotics and participation in a criminal association.
Those offences carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison under French law.
The seizure highlights the continued efforts by European authorities to disrupt international drug trafficking networks and intercept large consignments of cocaine entering the continent.
The latest seizure is expected to form part of the broader investigation into the movement of the cocaine from Ghana to France and the criminal network alleged to have organised the shipment.
