VIDEO: French Navy Seizes Record Cocaine Bust Near French Antilles
... #ad▼The French Navy seized 3.6 tons of cocaine from a tanker the ‘Titan’ in the Caribbean Sea earlier this week. The Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs has claimed the seizure with video evidence showing cocaine inventory and helicopter hovering of the Titam.
The French ministry reports that the Germinal – one of two Navy surveillance frigates in the West Indies and part of military operation Royal Carib 11/01 – seized a record shipment of cocaine off the French Antilles on February 14, 2011.
According to the ministry, the French Navy stopped and searched the Titan, a 32-meter-long tanker flying the Venezuelan flag.
The United Nations estimates 40 percent of cocaine that reaches Europe now passes through Venezuela, much of it shipped first to Africa.
The commander of the Germinal later delivered the seized cocaine to Venezuelan authorities, in accordance with Article 17 of the Vienna Convention.
The term French West Indies or French Antilles (French: Antilles françaises) refers to the four territories currently under French sovereignty in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: the two overseas departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique, plus the two overseas collectivities of Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy. The Guadeloupe department includes the islands of Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Terre-de-Haut, Terre-de-Bas, Marie-Galante and La Désirade.