One tonne of marijuana seized at sea bound for Guadeloupe
The French Navy frigate Ventôse intercepted a go-fast bound for Guadeloupe in the night of 12-13 February 2015 and recovered about one tonne of marijuana thrown overboard in bales. Four to five suspects were detained and the OCRTIS anti-drug office took charge of the investigation.
🇫🇷 International waters off Guadeloupe · France
Arrested
4
Cannabis
1 t
Agencies
Marine nationale, Office central pour la répression du trafic illicite des stupéfiants (OCRTIS)
In the night of 12 to 13 February 2015, the French Navy surveillance frigate
Ventôse pursued a go-fast boat heading toward Guadeloupe.[1]The boat,
suspected of drug trafficking, had been flagged by the OCRTIS via the UK
National Crime Agency and the Saint Lucia coast guard.[1]Four to five
suspects were placed in police custody after initially fleeing and being caught
the next day with help from anglophone authorities.[2]At least four of those
arrested were reported to be of Saint-Vincent origin.[3]
The boat was carrying more than one tonne of marijuana.[2]During the
helicopter pursuit the five people aboard threw bales of drugs overboard, and
the Ventôse crew recovered nearly forty bales, about one tonne of marijuana, by
daybreak.[1]The crew had come from the north of the Lesser Antilles arc and
appeared to be heading for the Guadeloupe coast.[2]
The OCRTIS, the central office for the repression of unlawful drug trafficking,
took charge of the investigation.[2]According to the OCRTIS in Guadeloupe,
the cannabis herb was intended mainly for the local market, unlike cocaine which
was reserved for export to Europe.[3]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
4
Cannabis
1 t
Agencies
Marine nationale; Office central pour la répression du trafic illicite des stupéfiants (OCRTIS)
RCIrci.fmFRPlus d'une tonne de marijuana saisie dans les eaux internationales
Open questions the AI reported
The sources give the quantity only as more than or about one tonne in some forty bales, so 1,000 kg is a conservative rounded figure, not an exact weighed total.
The accounts differ on the number of people detained: one says four to five placed in custody, another says at least four of Saint-Vincent origin arrested, while a third describes five people aboard the go-fast.
The exact interception point was reported only as international waters on a route toward the Guadeloupe coast, so the incident date of 13 February 2015 reflects when the seizure and arrests were completed.
No court outcome, charges or value estimate were reported; the case was still under investigation when the reports were published.
Europol-coordinated Operation TorNado led to 23 arrests in France and the seizure of 50 kilograms of cannabis there, as part of 354 arrests and hundreds of house searches across 14 countries between May 2025 and October 2026. The cannabis was one substance among a multi-drug haul dominated by amphetamines, ketamine, MDMA and cocaine.
Prison staff at Riom found just under 450 grams of cannabis on a detainee after exercise-yard searches on 10 November 2026. The FO Justice union described it as one of the largest seizures since the prison opened in 2016.
Customs officers seized 40 kg of cannabis products from a Spanish UPS truck at the Fontaine toll on the A36 on 9 November 2026. Two Spain-based delivery drivers, aged 36 and 46, were detained after admitting they acted as “mules” for a load collected in Madrid.
Police seized about 100 kilos of drugs, mainly cannabis with some cocaine, from a nourrice stash flat supplying deal points in Vénissieux's Joliot-Curie sector. The reports give only a combined weight, so no cannabis-only quantity can be recorded.
