Illustration of a large cocaine seizure, here in Portugal. - Armando Franca / AP / SIPA

Twenty-nine arrests, 300 gendarmes mobilized, 100,000 euros seized and 16 people charged and imprisoned. These few figures give a good idea of ​​the important catch carried out on Monday by the gendarmes. Coordinated by an examining magistrate from the specialized interregional jurisdiction of Rennes, the operation enabled the arrest and placement in police custody of 29 people in Guyana and in mainland France. All are suspected of belonging to an international cocaine import organization. At the time of writing, sixteen people are in prison.

Infographic produced by the National Gendarmerie to explain the dismantling of a cocaine import network from Guyana. - National Gendarmerie

Initiated in early 2019, this investigation launched by the Rennes prosecution was conducted by the Brittany gendarmerie research section, the Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni research brigade and an interdepartmental research group formed in Guyana.

This criminal organization "notably had relays in Ille-et-Vilaine and in Hauts de France", specifies the public prosecutor Philippe Astruc. She worked in particular in the recruitment of "mules" responsible for transporting drugs from Guyana to the mainland. French nationals but also Suriname are suspected of having made several trips and of having hidden the cocaine in clothes or in their bodies.

Four kilos of cocaine seized

The criminal network is also suspected of having marketed the drug on French soil and in particular in Rennes. Investigators estimate that three to five kilos of cocaine could have been delivered each week for a year. During the arrests, the gendarmes seized 100,000 euros in cash and more than four kilos of white powder.

After their detention, 13 people were released, while 13 others accused, including two women, were charged and placed in pre-trial detention. They face a sentence of 30 years' imprisonment. Three accused persons were also arrested in Guyana and placed in detention in Cayenne pending their transfer to mainland France. "Of the 16 people indicted and imprisoned, six are of Surinamese nationality, one of Cameroonian nationality and nine of French nationality," said the prosecution.

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  • Drug
  • Drug traffic
  • Cocaine
  • Rennes
  • Guyana