French Navy Seizes Nearly 6 Tons of Cocaine in Major West African Drug Bust

A French Navy frigate seized 5,919 kg of cocaine valued at approximately €320 million during an operation off the coast of West Africa last Friday. The operation was conducted under the direction of the Atlantic Maritime Prefect and the Public Prosecutor at the Brest Judicial Court.

The intervention came after the Anti-Narcotics Office (OFAST) requested naval assistance following intelligence shared by international partners including the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (MAOC-N), British National Crime Agency (NCA), and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The visiting team from the frigate, deployed as part of the Corymbe mission, boarded the fishing vessel in international waters in the Atlantic maritime zone. The operation was initiated under Article 110 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Montego Bay) and concluded under the Vienna Convention of December 20, 1988 and French Law 94-589.

“The perfect cooperation between national and international actors in the fight against narcotics has made it possible to obtain this remarkable result,” officials noted. “It illustrates the effectiveness of the French State’s action at sea in the context of the protection of external borders and the fight against organized crime.”

Operation CORYMBE represents France’s ongoing maritime security presence in West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea, where French naval assets work to counter piracy, robbery, and drug trafficking. The mission operates within the framework of the Yaoundé maritime security architecture, conducting cooperative exercises with African navies to enhance regional maritime security capabilities.

This seizure comes amid increasing international maritime counter-narcotics operations in the Atlantic region. On Tuesday, U.S. forces conducted a controversial “kinetic strike” against a Venezuelan vessel allegedly transporting narcotics in international waters in the Caribbean, resulting in 11 fatalities. The U.S. operation has drawn criticism from international law experts, with one expert stating it “violated fundamental principles of international law.”

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