FRENCH CUSTOMS SEIZE 23.5 TONNES OF CANNABIS RESIN

LILLE, France, French customs officials said on
Wednesday they had seized 23.5 tonnes of cannabis resin from a boat
they boarded in the English Channel, the largest cannabis haul on
French territory.

The discovery, worth an estimated 200 million francs ($34.3 million),
was the second big drugs seizure for French law enforcement
authorities in the past few days.

Police raiding a suburban Paris warehouse at the weekend found 1.2
tonnes of cocaine concealed in a van and a disused
merry-go-round.

Customs officers discovered the cannabis resin concealed in the hold
of an ageing fishing vessel, the Nemo, sailing under an Estonian flag
with a 16- member crew from Latvia and Poland, the officials said.

Investigators said they believed the drugs were from Morocco. The boat
was heading through the English Channel when it was stopped and
boarded by customs officials and ordered into the northern port of
Boulogne-sur-Mer.