If the beaches of Guadeloupe are sometimes the scene of arrivals of boats transporting drugs in particular, the seizure carried out on the night of Friday January 5 to Saturday January 6 is surprising. A total of 366 kg of cocaine was intercepted in the parking lot of a Gosier beach, and six men were arrested and placed in police custody, the Pointe-à-Pitre prosecutor’s office announced on Monday, January 8.
The suspects were checked on the beach of Petit Havre, a popular site for tourists and residents of the island, while they were “loading bags, such as bales, into the trunks of two vehicles”explained in a press release the public prosecutor of Pointe-à-Pitre, Caroline Calbo. “Analysis of the contents of the bales confirmed that it was cocaine with a total weight of 366 kg”she clarified.
The suspects are “most certainly arrived by sea”and they carried “around fifteen bundles”, specified a source close to the matter to Agence France-Presse (AFP). These people, including “the attitude was suspicious”, were arrested around 9 p.m. local time (2 a.m., Saturday, Paris time) explained the same source. This is’“rather young men, three of whom are from Guadeloupe, and three from either the Caribbean or South America”we added.
Continuation of checks
“Even if we know that it is a known way for traffickers to bring drugs to Guadeloupe, individuals who arrive from the beach with so much cocaine, it is exceptional”, noted Christophe Gavat, territorial director of the Guadeloupe national police (DTPN), interviewed by AFP. Checks will continue, he added.
Police custody, which can last up to 96 hours in this type of case, “have been extended and are still in progress”according to Mme Calbo. The judicial investigation was entrusted to Ofast, the Anti-Narcotics Office, under the authority of the prosecutor’s office of the Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction (Jirs) of Fort-de-France, specifies the prosecutor’s press release.