Drugs: Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau announces increased controls in Martinique to reduce trafficking

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau announced on Wednesday, May 14, a mission to strengthen access controls to Martinique and combat drug trafficking there. He intends to strengthen maritime surveillance by deploying three additional boats and 140 police officers to the island.

In the fall, "we will have a long-range drone and two surveillance radars, which will be technologically very effective," the Minister of the Interior also assured the Senate. "Starting this weekend, we will carry out checks at the airport" targeting "100% of people who are passengers, because traffickers saturate planes with mules," he continued. Finally, within "two weeks, three weeks," "a mobile scanner will arrive at the port of Fort-de-France which will allow us to better control containers."

"It won't stop there: I'm waiting for proposals from the Director General of the National Police so that we have a specific anti-drug mission in Martinique and the Antilles," Bruno Retailleau announced.

Ten tons of cocaine were intercepted in 2023 on boats sailing off the coast of Martinique, 28.3 tons in 2024 and already 10 tons since the beginning of 2025 , according to the latest report from April. Martinique is also faced with the circulation of weapons and homicides that make it one of the most crime-prone French territories.