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AFP news agency on March 2 quoted a French source as saying that about 2.3 tons of cocaine had drifted ashore on the northern coast of the country in the past few days.
A cocaine shipment worth around 150 million euros washed up on the French coast. Photo: pledgetimes.com
According to the source, the cocaine was packaged and disguised as ordinary packages. One shipment washed up on the coast of Normandy, France on February 26, the other was found on March 1. In the shipment discovered on February 26 on Reville beach near the northern tip of Normandy, local authorities found several bags containing cocaine weighing a total of 850 kg. The total black market value of the cocaine hidden in both shipments is about 150 million euros ($159 million).
Police are yet to confirm whether the drugs were deliberately dumped by the traffickers to avoid arrest or whether they fell off the traffickers' boat in bad weather. Authorities said they were "monitoring" the Normandy coast by plane but had not yet found any suspicious activity.
The last time France recorded a large amount of cocaine washing up on its shores was in 2019, when a total of 1.6 tonnes of cocaine was found scattered along France's Atlantic coast.
The French government recently announced that it seized a total of 27 tons of cocaine last year, a five-fold increase in the past 10 years as Europe faces a surge in drug trafficking and use.
According to VNA
