Two men were arrested in Avignon in the night of Monday to Tuesday, 7 to 8 August 2023, with 485 kg of cannabis in the boots of two cars coming fast from Spain.[1] Officers of the BRI, a specialist police intervention unit, stopped them during a go-fast from Spain, after one of the cars was found in a hotel car park in Avignon.[1] The Montpellier Brigade de recherche et d’intervention reported intercepting the go-fast on the A9 motorway that same night.[2] Investigators from the Lille judicial police had followed the two vehicles from the Spanish border while watching a suspected trafficking network for several months.[2] The cars were a Renault Mégane and an Audi A7, spotted after they crossed from Spain, and the first was located in a hotel car park in Avignon.[3] When BRI officers arrived, one suspect tried to flee and mimed drawing a weapon, and an officer fired once without injuring anyone.[3]

The vehicles held several suitcases of cannabis weighing 485 kg, which police valued at 4 million euros for resale.[2] The load was 13 Moroccan suitcases carrying 485 kg of cannabis resin.[3] Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin welcomed the arrest of two people and the seizure of 485 kg of cannabis, which he valued at nearly 4 million euros.[3] The same night’s interception in the Vaucluse yielded 485 kilos of cannabis resin estimated at four million euros.[4]

After custody the two men were handed to the investigating service, indicted for drug trafficking and imprisoned.[2] Officers found thirteen Moroccan suitcases of cannabis in the cars, and the two men were indicted at the end of that week.[1]