Barely a few months after Australian authorities seized a methamphetamine shipment from Ghana, French authorities have impounded a cocaine shipment under broadly similar circumstances.
French customs officers seized nearly 3.9 metric tons of cocaine, with an estimated street value of €225 million ($261.45 million), at the northern port of Dunkirk on Thursday, the French organised crime prosecutor’s office said, according to Reuters.
The drugs were concealed inside a container of plastic waste shipped from Ghana; part of the consignment was bound for Antwerp. The cocaine has since been destroyed, and prosecutors have opened an investigation.
France’s judicial police had been investigating the criminal network allegedly behind the shipment before the seizure took place. Potential charges include organised importation of narcotics and participation in a criminal association, offences that carry sentences of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
French customs seized a total of 108.81 tonnes of narcotics nationwide in 2025 across all drug types, with an estimated value of €2.197 billion. ($1 = 0.8606 euros)
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