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Two tons of cocaine seized by French authorities in Caribbean

By Andrew V. Pestano

FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique, April 19 (UPI) -- More than two tons of cocaine, estimated to be worth around $105 million, were seized by French customs officials off the coast of the Caribbean island of Martinique.

It is the biggest seizure of cocaine ever carried out by French authorities, according to Director of Customs Operations Michael Lachaux in Martinique, an overseas region of France. The confiscation occurred Wednesday and was announced Saturday.

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French customs officials seized 6.6 tons of cocaine in 2014 -- the recent Caribbean seizure accounts for about a third of that total.

Two Spanish citizens and one Venezuelan were arrested about 125 miles off the coast of the island. They were on a sailboat, falsely flying the flag of the United States.

French customs officials seized about 550 pounds of cocaine off the coast of Martinique in November.

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