More than 1.6 tonnes of synthetic methamphetamine-type drugs were seized by the French navy in the Mozambique Channel, aboard a dhow coming from the northern Indian Ocean, the prefecture of Reunion Island said on Friday. .
This operation constitutes “the largest seizure of this type of drug recorded in the southern maritime zone of the Indian Ocean”, specifies this source in a press release. It was carried out approximately 130 km from Mayotte and near the Comoros archipelago under the responsibility of the prefect of Reunion, government delegate for state action at sea, in conjunction with the public prosecutor’s office of Saint- Denis.
7 tonnes of narcotics seized in 2023
The dhow, “whose characteristics made it possible to suspect that it was engaged in drug trafficking”, was intercepted by the crew of the Champlain, a vessel of the Armed Forces in the southern zone of the Indian Ocean (FAZSOI) based in Reunion, state services note. The methamphetamine “was immediately seized for destruction,” they say.
On January 11, “a similar dhow was scuttled by its crew off the coast of Mahor before state services could carry out an inspection”, recalls the prefecture of Reunion in its press release.
In 2023, nearly 7 tonnes of narcotics were seized in the southern maritime zone of the Indian Ocean, or more than 20% of the national navy’s seizures of the year.