Crew of the French navy frigate Germinal stopped a go-fast boat that fled and dumped bales into the sea on the night of 11 February 2022.[1] The five people on board were stopped, and 11 bales recovered from the water tested positive for cannabis and weighed 435 kg.[1] Three of the five were French and two Venezuelan, and all were held in detention after the seizure.[2]

RCI reported that the investigation was handed to an investigating judge.[2] On the instruction of the Fort-de-France public prosecutor, the drugs, the boat and the five suspects were handed to the Caribbean branch of OFAST, France’s anti-drug office.[1] The operation was run under the direction of Martinique’s prefect, the government’s delegate for state action at sea, and the commander of the Antilles maritime zone.[1]

The authorities said the seizure cost traffickers a loss of more than one million euros, for a cargo probably intended for Caribbean consumers.[1] It was the armed forces’ second drug seizure of 2022, after the Germinal recovered 680 kg of cocaine on 29 January.[1]