Photograph by Adrian Pingstone
1.3 tonnes of cocaine has been seized at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, with the drugs found in 30 suitcases carried onto an Air France passenger plane.
The cocaine has a street value of €200 million (£175 million) and was being shipped from the Venezuelan capital Caracas to Paris, possibly to be sold there or to be then shipped on around Europe.
This is the largest seizure of its type in France, with French police commander Mohamed Douhane telling AFP:
“Such a seizure, in such circumstances, is quite simply exceptional.
“Now an inquiry … will have to determine if there were other accomplices, whether within the company or at the arrival or departure airports.”
Six people have been arrested so far.
