Cocaine: Reunion Island is alarmed by the establishment of criminal organizations

The operation is extremely rare. The 490 passengers and 15 crew members of a French Bee flight between Paris-Orly and Roland-Garros airports in Réunion Island were greeted upon arrival on the morning of June 25 by a general search. This was an anti-narcotics operation, as seizures of cocaine, synthetic drugs, and cannabis resin imported from France have exploded on the island since 2022. That day, the hundred customs officers and police officers mobilized did not arrest a single "mule," as travelers recruited to transport drugs are known.

For the prosecutor of Saint-Denis de La Réunion, Véronique Denizot, the objective was first and foremost to "count our strengths through this full-scale exercise" which was widely publicized. "We know how to do it and we will do it again ," insists the magistrate. "It is a message intended for the population to say 'we are not giving up,' but also to the traffickers." While not ignoring the fact that this type of operation will not make the borders watertight, while an average of four flights arrive per day from mainland France.

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