COCAINE with a street value of between £55 million and £77m was seized from a Jersey-registered boat in the Caribbean following collaboration between the Island’s Attorney General and French authorities.
The Attorney General, Mark Temple KC, was approached as a result of anti-drugs smuggling patrols for permission to search the vessel Maria Del Mar, which was around 200 miles south of Barbados.
Having consulted with colleague in customs and immigration, Mr Temple granted permission for a search under the Misuse of Drugs (Jersey) Law 1978, which provides jurisdiction in respect of offences on ships.
Upon boarding the vessel the same day, 26 February, the French authorities discovered 1,100 kgs of cocaine, which in Jersey would have had a street value of between £55m and £77m.
The four people on board the boat, three Spaniards and one Colombian were arrested and are now in custody in the French département of Martinique.
Mr Temple said Jersey was “keen to play its part in combatting illicit drug trafficking, wherever it takes place”.
