Two women held at Réunion airport with 25 kg of cannabis resin
Customs officers at Roland-Garros airport on Réunion arrested two women travelling with 25 kg of cannabis resin hidden in laundry drums, and both were charged with drug trafficking. A third suspect, the man who was to collect the drugs, was arrested the next evening; he already featured in a December case in which 19 kg of resin and 484 g of heroin were seized in the same kind of drums.
🇷🇪 Roland-Garros airport, Gillot, Sainte-Marie, La Réunion
Customs officers at Roland-Garros airport, the airport on Réunion that locals
call Gillot, arrested two people who were carrying 25 kg of cannabis resin in
their suitcases.[1]The 25 kg of resin was hidden in liquid-laundry drums
packed inside the luggage.[1]
The two women were taken into custody and then charged withdrug trafficking by
the judge of freedoms and detention, the French judge who rules on pre-trial
detention.[1]They say they did not know what the suitcases contained and
consider themselves to have been set up.[1]
The man who was to receive the drugs, a young man from Saint-Paul, was arrested
the following evening.[1]He already appears in the case file on the cannabis
resin intercepted at Roland-Garros airport the previous December.[1]
In December, Réunion customs seized19 kg of cannabis resin and 484 g of heroin
hidden in laundry drums.[1]LINFO.re later dated the interception to 25
January 2019, when two people were arrested at Gillot with 25 kg of resin hidden
in laundry drums.[2]
Réunion La 1ère described three men transporting 25 kg of resin in laundry drums
as charged and jailed after that 25 January interception.[3]In the December
case, airport customs officers scanning a passenger’s two bags found ten
liquid-laundry drums concealing the fraud goods.[4]
Photos and video
Page picture captioned with the headline of the 25 kg cannabis-resin seizure at Roland-Garros airport; the image carries no credit and the article does not say what it depicts.Photo details
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
3
Charged
2
Cannabis
25 kg
Agency
Douanes de La Réunion (Réunion customs)
Agency type
Customs
Cannabis
Hashish (25 kg)
Activity
Smuggling, Trafficking
Setting
Airport
Charge
trafic de stupéfiants (drug trafficking)
Case stage
Charged
Region
La Réunion
Sources
LINFO.relinfo.reFRDouanes : 25 kilos de résine de cannabis saisis à l’aéroport Roland-Garros
LINFO.relinfo.reFRDouanes : 15 kg de résine de cannabis et 6 000 cachets d’ecstasy saisis à Gillot
Réunion La 1èrela1ere.franceinfo.frFR6000 cachets d'ecstasy et 15 kg de résine de cannabis interceptés par les douaniers de l’aéroport Roland Garros
LINFO.relinfo.reFRDouanes : 19 kg de résine de cannabis saisis à l’aéroport Roland-Garros
Open questions the AI reported
The article gives no date for the interception, only 'vendredi'; the arrest date of 25 January 2019 is taken from LINFO.re's later article, whose text reads 'Deux personnes ont été arrêtées le 25 janvier à Gillot avec, cachés dans des bidons de lessive, 25 kilos de résine de cannabis'.
The accounts differ on who was charged: LINFO.re describes two women taken into custody and charged with drug trafficking, while Réunion La 1ère says three men carrying 25 kg of resin in laundry drums were charged and jailed; the figures give three arrested and two charged, following LINFO.re on the arrests and charges.
The time of the third arrest is given only as 'hier soir' (the evening before the 29 January article), so its exact date is uncertain.
The accounts do not say whether a customs fine or any other penalty was imposed, and no court outcome or trial date was reported.
The page photo is captioned only with the article headline and is not established to show this seizure, so it is linked as media rather than treated as a verified picture of the event.
Gendarmes in Saint-Benoît, Réunion, took a man into custody on 3 October 2026 during an armed-violence inquiry and searched his home. They seized 46 zamal cannabis plants, 5.9 kg of cannabis, three firearms, 411 rounds, growing equipment and 305 euros.
Réunion gendarmes arrested a fruit and vegetable seller in front of the Roches Maigres vocational school in Saint-Louis on 26 August 2026 after watching him sell zamal, finding 1.484 kg of zamal and 16,729 euros under his stand and at his home. He faces prosecution for dealing beside a school, an aggravating circumstance.
Police in Le Port, Réunion, arrested a wanted man on 16 July 2026 after tracing a strong cannabis smell to a building stairwell; three officers were hurt when he resisted. He faced allegations of drug use, rebellion and escape and was due for an immediate-appearance trial on 20 July.
Customs officers at Roland-Garros Airport arrested a Réunionese university student arriving from the Paris region with more than 8 kg of cannabis resin in his luggage. After custody, he was presented to the Saint-Denis prosecutor and tried on 1 July 2026 under the immediate-trial procedure.
