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PARIS (dpa)
French police have discovered 1.3 tons of cocaine worth approximately €30 million ($35 million) to €40 million in what French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau called a record-breaking discovery, the police reported on Thursday.
The drugs were hidden in wooden crates and uncovered during a routine inspection of a lorry travelling from Spain on the motorway near Bordeaux, the police said, adding that the find was part of their ongoing efforts to combat drug trafficking.
French investigators collaborated with Spanish police to carry out the operation. The lorry came under scrutiny following a tip-off about potential drug smuggling.
Retailleau said the seizure demonstrates the police's ability to strike at the heart of drug networks.
Investigators observed suspicious trips made by the vehicle between Spain and northern Europe, according to the broadcaster BFMTV, citing police sources.
Authorities view the cocaine seizure as evidence of the increasing importation of large quantities of the drug into Europe via Portugal and southern Spain.
Investigators have referred to the growing influx of cocaine through
this smuggling route as a "white tsunami" flooding Europe. The lorry's 36-year-old Spanish driver was detained, according to the BFMTV report.
