French navy reels in nearly 5 tons of cocaine from fishing boat in Pacific Ocean

Courtesy: CBS

France’s navy has confiscated 4.87 tons of cocaine, believed to be bound for Australia, from a fishing vessel in the South Pacific, French officials said, calling it a record seizure for the region.

The vessel coming from Central America was intercepted on Jan. 16, France’s High Commission in French Polynesia said in a statementMonday, adding that their armed forces mobilized “significant human and material resources” for the operation.

The cocaine was being transported on a ship sailing under Togo’s flag and destined for the Australian market, according to a source close to the investigation.

The 10 Honduran and one Ecuadoran crew would not be prosecuted by French authorities, according to the source, but their home countries had the option of launching legal proceedings against them.

Authorities released an image from the operation, showing a military helicopter hovering above a vessel with packages laid out on the deck.

“This record seizure is a successful outcome of the new territorial plan to combat narcotics,” the commission said in a statement. “It illustrates the strategic nature of regional cooperation conducted by France with its closest partners, notably the United States and Australia, in the fight against drug trafficking.”

The United Nations has said in recent years that organized crime groups trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine have expanded their presence in the Pacific. Large amounts of drugs are transported from North and South America for Australian and New Zealand markets, according to the U.N.

Cocaine has been found on fishing boats around the globe in recent months.

Last September, the French navy said it seized nearly 10 tons of cocaine worth more than $600 million from a fishing vessel off the coast of West Africa.

Last April, the U.S. Coast Guard seized roughly 10,000 pounds of cocaine from a fishing boat in the Atlantic Ocean. That haul was worth an estimated $74 million.

In December 2024, police seized 2.3 tons of cocaine and arrested 13 people in raids after the suspects’ fishing boat broke down off the coast of Australia.