Seizure of 3.9 tonnes of cocaine at Dunkirk port, estimated value 225 million euros
Nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine concealed in plastic waste were seized on Monday at Dunkirk port. The container came from Ghana and was destined for Antwerp port.
Dunkirk: 167 packages of cocaine intercepted in container from Ghana
Nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine were seized on Monday at Dunkirk port, announced Thursday by Vanessa Perrée, prosecutor in charge of the national organised crime prosecution office (Pnaco). According to sudouest.fr, the drug — divided into 167 packages concealed "in plastic waste" — was discovered by officers of the French customs External Surveillance Brigade (BSE).
The merchandise, estimated at approximately 225 million euros, was being transported from Ghana in a container "initially destined in particular for Antwerp port," the magistrate clarifies in a statement. All of the drug has since "already been destroyed," indicates the head of Pnaco, whose prosecution office immediately opened "a summary investigation."
The investigations concern several offences: acquisition, possession, transport, offering or supplying of narcotics, importation of narcotics by an organised group and participation in a criminal association for the preparation of crimes. These offences carry a sentence of up to ten years' imprisonment, recalls Pnaco.
The investigation has been entrusted to the Anti-narcotics Office (Ofast), tasked with "identifying the actors of this criminal network already targeted by the National Directorate of Judicial Police (DNPJ) who organised this significant cocaine import." This seizure falls within, according to the prosecution, "the Pnaco's determination to pay particular attention to massive illegal importations of narcotics via maritime routes."
In 2025, French customs seized 108.81 tonnes of narcotics across the national territory, all products combined, for an estimated value of approximately 2.2 billion euros. In the same year, Ofast records more than 84 tonnes of cocaine seized in France by all investigation services.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)