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French Customs Seize Record 2.25 Tons of Cocaine Off Martinique

French coastguard launches intercepted a sailboat off the French Caribbean island and arrested three people, the Foreign Ministry said.
Image: FRANCE-OVERSEAS-DRUG-CUSTOMS
A handout photo taken on April 17, 2015 and released on April 18 by the French customs shows packs of cocaine seized in the Silandra sailboat on April 15 in the night off the French Caribbean island of Martinique.- / AFP - Getty Images
/ Source: NBC News

French customs officers seized 2.25 tons of cocaine, their biggest ever haul, in a raid on a yacht off Martinique, the Finance Ministry said on Saturday.

Officers aboard two coastguard launches intercepted the vessel 125 miles off the French Caribbean island on Wednesday and arrested three people, the ministry said in a statement.

The wholesale value of the seized drugs was around $108 million, it added.

The haul, which followed a two-year operation conducted jointly with Britain and Spain, amounts to more than one-third of the total of 6.6 tons of cocaine seized by French customs last year.

Image: FRANCE-OVERSEAS-DRUG-CUSTOMS
A handout photo taken on April 16 by the French customs off Martinique, and released on April 18, shows the Silandra sailboat carrying cocaine escorted to Fort-de-France after the boat's interception on April 15.- / AFP - Getty Images

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— Reuters