22nd May 2021

2 St Lucians among 5 suspected traffickers arrested between Martinique and Saint Lucia in possession of weapons, narcotics and 30,000 euros

By la1ere.francetvinfo

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An interministerial operation to control maritime approaches took place on the night of May 12 to 13, 2021, in the Saint Lucia canal.

The Antilles-Guyana patroller "La Combattante" of the armed forces in the Antilles (FAA) boarded a skiff which had just delivered illicit goods to individuals, after having made a stop on land. At the same time, the customs land surveillance brigade arrested three individuals near the place of disembarkation, in possession of weapons (GLOCK pistol and two long magazines filled with 15 cartridges), a large sum of money. (30,000 euros) and narcotics (1.4 kg of herbal cannabis).

The skiff and the suspected drug traffickers were handed over on May 13 to the anti-narcotics office (OFAST), seized by the public prosecutor of Fort-de-France.

At the end of their police custody, five people (two French and three Saint-Luciens, aged between 26 and 54 years), were presented to the judge of freedoms and detention, then to the criminal court of Fort-de- France, who ordered their placement in pre-trial detention until their trial hearing, set for June 21, 2021.

They are accused of the offenses of drug trafficking, assistance with the illegal entry and stay of foreigners in France, acquisition, possession, transport of category B weapons, criminal association with a view to the commission of offenses against narcotics legislation, money laundering, opposition to the duties of customs agents. All of them incur penalties of up to ten years imprisonment or twenty years for the person who is in a state of legal recidivism.

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