French navy seizes 9 tons of cocaine on Turkish ship off Martinique

The French Navy maritime patrol vessel La Confiance boarded and seized nine tons of cocaine from the Turkish merchant vessel Haliç-Equality, owned by Turkish shipping magnate H.B.T, on January 10, according to the reports.

The ship, valued at approximately $200,000 and classified as scrap, departed İstanbul on November 12, 2024, according to data available at vesselfinder.com website.

The vessel anchored in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, on December 10, 2024. Three days later, it departed for Martinique, a French-controlled island near Colombia and Venezuela, both major drug-producing countries.

Martinique, lacking independent state status, remains under French military protection.

The operation was carried out on January 10 after the ship turned off its radar signal on December 28, 2024.

French authorities intercepted the vessel 700 nautical miles southeast of Martinique, discovering 250 bales containing nine tons of cocaine worth $3 billion during a thorough inspection.

Authorities arrested four suspects — three Colombian nationals and one Spanish national — who appeared before a magistrate in Fort-de-France, Martinique.

The operation, coordinated by the admiral commanding the Antilles maritime zone under the direction of the prefect of Martinique, resulted from international cooperation among multiple agencies, including the French Anti-Drugs Office (OFAST), French Customs (DNRED), French Forces in the Caribbean (Navy) and the UK National Crime Agency, working under the European Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre for Drugs (MAOC-N).

MAOC-N, co-funded by the European Union’s Internal Security Fund, is an initiative of eight EU member states — Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal — and the United Kingdom. The center facilitates multilateral cooperation to combat illicit drug trafficking by sea and air.

The latest French Navy seizure brings to five the number of Turkish-owned ships caught with major drug shipments in the past three years. The total drugs seized from these vessels exceed 25 tons, with an estimated street value of $10 billion.

According to a September report by InstituDE, a Brussels-based think tank, Turkey has become a significant hub for the global cocaine trade, with an estimated $2.9 to $5.8 billion worth of the drug passing through the country each year

The authors of this report, Dr. İmdat Öner and colleagues, wrote of how Turkish-owned vessels and ports have become focal points for maritime drug trafficking.

The report identifies key shipping routes from Latin American countries, particularly Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, to Europe via Turkish vessels and ports.

Other shipments are also directed at Middle Eastern markets, where Turkish criminal organizations reportedly control 20 percent of the cocaine trade.

The authors mention that in 2021, Turkish law enforcement agencies seized 2.84 tons of cocaine, 2.2 tons in 2022 and 2.85 tons in 2023, demonstrating significant growth in trafficking via Turkish routes.

In a related development Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Monday that 213 suspects had been detained in a major anti-narcotics operation in İstanbul, adding that 197 of them were arrested while 13 were released under judicial supervision.