INVESTIGATION
More than 1.2 tonnes of pure cocaine have been seized since the start of the year in France, not to mention hundreds of pounds of cannabis. Behind these very important figures, operations carried out in Bordeaux, Nice, Rungis, or even Orly which all have one thing in common: Ofast, the anti-narcotics office. In operation since January 1, the successor to the National Office to Combat Drug Trafficking - formerly OCRTIS - has around a hundred investigators and is the new bane of traffickers.
Information sharing as a basis
The secret of Ofast? Information sharing and centralization of actions. "Our role is to be a leader in the fight against drug trafficking, we are there to allow collective action, better sharing of information and erase the competition that may have existed before," explains at the microphone of Europe 1 Stéphanie Cherbonnier, general controller of Ofast, who chose Europe 1 to speak for the first fosi in the media since taking up her post.
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"The objective is to dismantle the networks, and we are coordinating all of the investigations," added the first woman to head such a service. Police, gendarmes, magistrates, customs, but also representatives of the Ministry of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs ... Ofast brings together a multitude of people with diverse skills to put down networks. And it only took a few weeks for the device to prove itself. On January 24, it was thanks to "information sharing" and "operational coordination" that Ofast was able to seize 723 kilos of cocaine and arrest three suspects, two of whom are imprisoned.
Intelligence units
The same day, more than 550 kilometers away, a suspicious shipment of bananas from Colombia was intercepted. Result: 500 kilos of cocaine seized. Without forgetting the go-fast stopped, still on January 24, in the south-east of France with 347 kilos of cannabis resin.
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Far from a simple investigative service, Ofast coordinates and centralizes its action, in particular thanks to its "Cross", intelligence units where the police exchange information. A novelty which already benefits some forty departments. And it is likely that others will emerge soon since it is planned to increase the workforce of Ofast to 170 members by the end of 2020. According to our information, in 2019 the seizures have were as important as in 2018 which was a record year.