ROUND 39 KILOS OF NARCOTICS CONFISCATED IN ONE NIGHT COOPERATIVE RAID IN
THREE COUNTRIES

Lille, November 22, 1997 (AFP) Police and border guards from France, the
Netherlands and Belgium have confiscated round 39 kilograms of narcotics in
a crosscountry drug raid beginning on Friday evening. During the mutual
action starting at different times in each country nearly 18,500 persons
were controlled, according to Gilles Leclair from the French drug
enforcement agency. Of those controlled 241 persons had a total of 37
kilograms of cannabis, 210 grams of heroin, 100 grams of cocaine and 1.8
kilograms of synthetic drugs. Participating in the police raid called
"Frontal" were 2200 officials from all three countries. It was already the
third such operation this year. During the raid on June 15, 1997 also about
twelve kilograms of narcotics were confiscated.

In France the officers controlled the FrenchBelgian border at Dunkirk and
in CharlesMezieres, where approximately 80 stationary and mobile control
posts were set up. In the Netherlands officers checked the license tags of
cars parked at known dealing sites and passed the data on to their
colleagues in France and Belgium for further checking. Passengers in
international trains were also inspected. Just last weekend police forces
from the three countries arrested 26 suspected drug dealers in a raid at
the Dutch port of Rotterdam.