The French navy seized 10.7 tonnes of cocaine from a Brazilian-flagged fishing vessel in the Gulf of Guinea, the navy said, in the largest interception of the illicit trade off the coast of West Africa.
According to the navy, the operation was carried out in agreement with the Brazilian government and initiated pursuant to Article 17 of the UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
During the operation, French anti-trafficking agencies accompanied the US Drug Enforcement Agency on the arrest.
The cost of the cocaine shipment is estimated by the navy at 695 million euros ($758 million).
West Africa remains a major transit region for cocaine, and drug trafficking helps finance various armed groups in the Sahel, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
According to UNODC, the amount of cocaine seized in the Sahel is increasing dramatically: from 13 kg per year between 2015 and 2020 to over 35 kg in 2021 and 863 kg in 2022.