The source of these drug packets is still not established. They may have been deliberately thrown into the sea to avoid control or have fallen from a ship. In all, on Saturday, around 30 kg of cocaine were discovered on a beach in Cherbourg, in the wake of previous strandings of drug bundles observed in the Channel, we learned this Sunday from the Rennes prosecutor’s office.
In total, more than two tons of cocaine packed in hermetically sealed packages, some attached to life jackets, had been discovered on February 26 and March 1 on various beaches in Cotentin, bales seized by the gendarmes who deployed an important coastal monitoring device in the area.
A health hazard
The public prosecutor of Rennes Philippe Astruc, head of the specialized interregional jurisdiction (Jirs), warned this week against any temptation of “narcotourism”. In addition to the criminal offense related to the possession of such a bale of cocaine, he also insisted on the danger to health presented by the consumption of this drug, probably much more concentrated than that available for resale at retail.
Initially conducted by the Jirs de Rennes, “the investigation is now entrusted to the Paris prosecutor’s office” and its national court responsible for the fight against organized crime (Junalco), Philippe Astruc said on Sunday.
This is not the first time that cocaine has arrived on the French coast. At the end of 2019, bales containing a total of 1.6 tonnes of white powder had washed up on the beaches of a large area ranging from Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) to Camaret (Finistère).