PARIS, Oct 17 — The French navy seized about 8.6 tonnes of narcotics, mainly cocaine, during several operations this month in the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean, authorities said yesterday. 

These seizures, conducted with the navies of other countries between October 4 and 13, included the confiscation of nearly 6.9 tonnes of cocaine and 1.7 tonnes of marijuana.

The largest haul led to the arrest of five people in the French overseas territory of Martinique, the top local official and the French armed forces said in a joint statement.

That operation took place on October 8 in the Atlantic Ocean, when a French naval vessel intercepted an unflagged fishing boat that was “starting a transatlantic crossing”, the statement said.

On October 4, a French frigate supported by a helicopter stopped a speedboat sailing without a flag with help from the Colombian navy and found cocaine and marijuana.

On October 13, a Venezuelan fishing boat was found transporting both those drugs, the statement added. — AFP