French customs officials have intercepted close to 3.9 tonnes of cocaine valued at about €225 million, approximately $261.45 million, hidden in a container shipped from Ghana.
According to Reuters, the bust was made on Thursday, September 10, at the port of Dunkirk in northern France.
France’s organised crime prosecutor’s office said the narcotics were concealed in a container carrying plastic waste, which was reportedly headed in part to Antwerp, Belgium.
Authorities said the operation was carried out by the judicial police after targeting a criminal syndicate believed to be behind the consignment.
The seized drugs have been destroyed, and prosecutors have launched a probe into the shipment and the suspected criminal network.
The investigation is centered on charges of organized importation of narcotics and membership of a criminal association, offences that attract up to 10 years imprisonment under French law.
The interception underscores sustained efforts by European security agencies to dismantle international drug trafficking rings and block large cocaine consignments from entering Europe.
The seizure is expected to feed into a wider probe into how the cocaine was moved from Ghana to France and the network that allegedly coordinated it.
