On Monday, during a roadside check, customs officers from the Arcachon brigade, in Gironde, came across a huge quantity of drugs.
While searching a truck registered in Bulgaria, they discovered 578 kg of cocaine, packaged in the form of breads.
They were hidden in legal cargo, stored on pallets.
In total, this record catch reached a market value of more than 40 million euros on resale.
These goods were conveyed by two drivers of Bulgarian nationality.
"They were immediately placed in customs detention and then in police custody, a sum of 7,000 euros in cash having also been found in the passenger compartment and on one of them", indicates in a press release the prosecutor of Bordeaux, Frederique Porterie.
The two drivers charged
Given the quantity seized and the international dimension of the case, the prosecutor's office of the Interregional Specialized Jurisdiction (JIRS) of Bordeaux took up the case and the investigation was entrusted to the local branch of the Anti-Narcotics Office (Ofast) and to the central direction of the judicial police.
The two drivers were indicted on Friday for "importing narcotics in an organized gang, drug trafficking and criminal association for the preparation of a crime and offences".
They face ten years' imprisonment and the prosecution has requested their placement in pre-trial detention.
The public prosecutor indicates that "the investigations will continue on letters rogatory to identify the accomplices and co-authors of these facts".
Miscellaneous facts
Toulouse: Nearly 1.5 million euros of narcotics seized
Miscellaneous facts
Quimper: Customs seize 152 ivory objects in an antiques fair
Miscellaneous Bordeaux
Cocaine
Bordeaux
Gironde
Aquitaine
Bulgaria
Drug traffic
amazing
Customs