The crew of the patrol boat The fighter On November 28, 2023, the national navy’s numerous drug seizures in the Antilles were shaken: on that day, 3.5 tons of cocaine destined for Europe were discovered on a Venezuelan fishing vessel not far from Barbados.

On the night of January 5th, police in Guadeloupe noticed a new catch: 366 kilograms of white powder that men had loaded into a vehicle belonging to families in the parking lot of the very busy Petit-Havre beach in Le Gosier. Among the traffickers arrested were three Guadeloupeans and three foreigners who came from the neighboring island of Dominica and were regularly identified in French criminal files for arms and drug trafficking.

Police and justice officials met The world report an alarming situation. In the West Indies “2023 was a high year”explains Alexandre Huguet, head of the Caribbean department of the Anti-Drugs Office (Ofast). The service that, in his opinion, employs “About forty people in Martinique, about twenty in Guadeloupe and a detachment in Saint-Martin”intercepted a total of 11 tons of narcotics in 2023.

Traffic is increasing in the region due to increased production in South America “Dissatisfaction with cocaine in the American market switching to synthetic drugs”as explained Clarisse Taron, the prosecutor of Fort-de-France, seat of the specialized interregional jurisdiction. “All this means that Europe has become a sales market”, She continues. The French departments will “the South American cocaine rebound zone”emphasizes the judge who describes “A fundamental movement that has affected both the ports of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guyana for several years”.

“Prospects for easy money”

As expected, the systematization of departure controls from Cayenne Airport in 2023 resulted in a “Partial carryover phenomenon” Of Guyana mules, the small hands of human trafficking now moving from Martinique to Paris, Mr. Huguet points out. The boss of Ofast discusses “around 80 mules were entrusted to Ofast” in 2023 at Fort-de-France airport, compared to 50 to 60 people in previous years: travelers trying to board Paris with cocaine, but also, in the other direction, “Cases of mules intercepted by Martinique customs arriving from mainland France with cannabis resin”. Very often it is like that“People attracted by incurring debt, economic hardship, or the prospect of easy money.”he describes.

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