French Navy intercepts semi-submersible carrying several tonnes of cocaine in the Atlantic

Interception in the Atlantic

French naval forces intercepted a semi-submersible in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, 12 November, a craft carrying several tonnes of cocaine. The armed forces ministry and the Martinique prefecture announced the operation on Sunday, 15 November. The vessel flew no flag, and when the French Navy frigate approached, three people on board jumped into the water. The crew had activated the vessel's scuttling mechanism.

Rescue and seizure

A boarding team reached the deck and took off a fourth crew member, who had time to trigger the scuttling. The vessel sank in under three minutes. All four suspects were recovered from the water. The ministry said bales weighing 146 kg in total were recovered, while most of the cargo was lost with the craft.

The ministry described the vessel as a craft built to run at water level, and said the rest of the cargo went down with it.

“The rest of the cargo, several tonnes, sank with the semi-submersible.”

Legal and military framework

The operation was carried out under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. A helicopter embarked on the frigate and a United States maritime patrol aircraft supported it, and the American aircraft was under the operational control of a US interagency anti-drug agency. The ministry described the operation as new for the French Navy. Catherine Vautrin, the minister of the armed forces and veterans, praised the interception on X as new in the fight against high-seas drug trafficking.