On February 11, at night, during an air-sea surveillance patrol conducted by the French Armed Forces in the West Indies, the surveillance frigate “Germinal” intercepted a suspicious fast boat without any visible mark of nationality on the sea southwest of Guadeloupe. In photo: Bales of cannabis on the deck of the frigate “Germinal” after the seizure on February 11.
MARIGOT--On February 11, at night, during an air-sea surveillance patrol conducted by the French Armed Forces (FAA) in the West Indies, the surveillance frigate Germinal intercepted a suspicious fast boat without any visible mark of nationality on the sea southwest of Guadeloupe.
The go-fast fled as the military vessel approached, while dumping bales into the sea. The five occupants were apprehended and 11 bales, representing a total 435 kilograms (kg), were recovered and tested positive for cannabis.
On the instruction of the public prosecutor of Fort-de-France, Martinique, the drugs, the boat and the accused were handed over to the Caribbean branch of the anti-drug office OFAST. This operation was conducted under the direction of the préfet of Martinique, the government’s delegate for the State’s activity at sea, and the commander of the Antilles Maritime Zone.
This second seizure of the year 2022 for the FAA follows the operation carried out by the Germinal on January 29, which led to the recovery of 680kg of cocaine from drug traffickers. The seizure of February 11 represents for the traffickers a loss of more than one million euros for merchandise that was probably destined for Caribbean consumers.
