France sees spike in cocaine seizures



France said on Wednesday it seized 27 tons of cocaine in 2022, five times more than in 10 years, as Europe faces a sharp rise in trafficking and use of the drug.

Seizures were up five percent last year compared to 2021, with more than half of the drugs coming from the West Indies and France’s impoverished South American region of Guiana, according to the Home Office.

cocaine trade

As the illicit trade expands, cocaine now enters Europe via northern ports such as Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg and French Le Havre.

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The port city of Le Havre, with its vast cargo terminals where the River Seine flows into the sea, has become France’s main entry point for cocaine.

According to the Ministry of Public Accounts, which oversees customs compliance, 1.9 tons of coke were confiscated in just a few days last February.

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An AFP investigation earlier this year found that more than a sixth of the cocaine consumed in France is smuggled inside the bodies of traffickers, including pregnant women, on flights out of Guiana.

Drugs spreading

Last year’s cocaine haul was part of 157 tons of illicit drugs seized by French authorities.

“The fight against drug trafficking is more than ever the mother of all battles,” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told reporters at a press conference in Paris.

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Cannabis seizures also increased by 15 per cent last year compared to the previous year, reaching a record high of 128 tons.

Law enforcement agencies also seized 1.4 tons of heroin (an increase of 8%) and 273 kg of synthetic drugs (an increase of 21%).

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