Gendarmes arrested 18 people on 25 October 2025, 10 of them in Réunion and 8 in mainland France, in an operation involving more than 250 officers.[1] On the afternoon of 26 October 2025, officers seized 50 kilos of cannabis resin aboard the Grand Hero at Port Est.[2] Investigators found exactly 497 bars of shit hidden inside several of the cars carried on the ship.[2] Investigators estimated the resin’s market value at more than one million euros.[2] The gendarmerie’s account says the drug was hidden in the tyres of the vehicles.[2] Dockers said about 10 kg of resin was hidden inside each car.[3]

The searches also found 162,640 euros in cash, 12 vehicles, a hydraulic press, drones, computers, phones, a handgun and luxury goods.[1]

Seventeen people were brought before the investigating judge from 28 October 2025.[1] Those arrested in Réunion were placed in pre-trial detention while those arrested in mainland France were issued an arrest warrant.[1] Among the suspects was a docker suspected of acting as a facilitator, who was arriving on the island by plane when the operation began, and his wife was also questioned.[2]

The investigation ran for more than a year, starting from the discovery on 5 October 2024 of 8 kg of MDMA in crystal form hidden in the spare wheel of a new vehicle landed at Réunion from Le Havre.[1] A judicial inquiry was opened on 22 May 2025.[1] A national investigation cell was set up in Réunion on 1 August 2025 to coordinate the work of about ten investigators.[1]

The Grand Hero left Le Havre on 1 October, called at Tangier, the Canary Islands and South Africa, and docked in Réunion on 26 October around 14h.[3] The gendarmerie communiqué, as carried by Imaz Press, confirms the discovery of 497 bars of cannabis resin in several vehicles.[4]