More than a ton of cocaine seized on an AF flight
 

French authorities just seized over a ton of cocaine aboard an AF flight coming from Venezuela, hidden in baggages which didn't belong to any passenger registered


fantastic security check :rolleyes:

next time it will "something else" :o

Presumably they came as cargo, then, did they not? If so, what is the security issue here that makes you so concerned?

Was thinking the same because a ton sounds like a hell of a lot of excess luggage! ;) I'm trying to picture how big a ton of cocaine could be but my total lack of knowledge in those matters shows!

it seems to be a Cargo flight

but still, the drug was hidden into 30 suitcases !


don't they check what is loaded ???

It's all about finding alternative revenue streams....

:D :D :D


the merchandise was worth 200M.

and Air France needs 400M to complete Transform 2015 :p

Who? CCS airport and security?

mmm... large quantity of cocaine smuggled on a plane originating in South America? I can understand that you are absolutely flummoxed that something so utterly unthinkable could possibly happen. :)

well, what seems so obvious for you, is surprising for me

They are either all corrupted at the airport or very incompetent...

Given that the totality of the world's supply of cocaine originates from South America, it is not going to suddenly appear in Europe through the operation of the holy spirit.

It has to be transported there somehow. Some of it will be smuggled onboard cargo ships, whether directly or indirectly through, eg, Africa; some of it will transit via Central America and the Carribean using smaller private planes or boats to get there; and yes: some of it will be smuggled on-board commercial passenger and/or cargo flights.

If it was that easy to identify and stop, the "war against drugs" would have been won decades ago.

In CCS they are both, corrupted and incompetent.

Don't you hate it when catering load your special meal onto the wrong plane ? ;-)

Yes, they didn't screen the bags and now, they being caught. How they didn't screen the checked bags at airport? They didn't do right. Something wasn't right. French Police did not find out about drug smuggling into the country.

As hinted by NickB and JOUY31, the transporter (airline or otherwise) has neither the responsibility nor the right to search cargo. They check that all the paperwork is filled and signed and give you a nice little written warning on the page you sign that you are responsible for the contents and the veracity of the declaration. Surprise surprise, someone capable of trying to kill kids with a million tons of drugs is also capable of lying and telling you that the bags contain tea, clothes, or whatever else the disguised it as!

And yes, any smuggling of that magnitude will usually imply the corruption of some people on the origin side of the convoy. Venezuela is obviously a deeply sick country at the moment and corruption has reached such high up levels of powers that it is sadly not quite incredible that some people in the team in charge of xraying cargo can indeed be bought for a very small share of the profit. Sometimes, they can also be the informants who tip someone else about the criminal operation, and occasionally, you'll find (or for that matter won't find) their corpse floating somewhere on the Caribbean sea...

Anyway, well done police for finding that. I always gently smile when I read people saying that customs are useless because sometimes you go through your green channel and there is "no one" there. While those controls can of course find "things", the vast majority of customs work in airport takes place behind the scene, they will correspond with their colleagues at the point of origin or sources of intelligence, look at post, bags and cargo, choose to inspect some (and thus be part of our much-hated luggage delivery delays) before delivering, or earmark some for inspection when passengers go through customs. The stern figures may scare you off (typically even if you haven't done anything remotely wrong), or encourage people to sheepishly throw away their 'dangerous' apple before going through customs or declare their $500 of Levis jeans for the kids, but effectively, the fewer people are just in visible positions, the more can be dedicated to the backstage work that day after day prevents some drugs and other illicit products from reaching - ultimately - their intended victims.

The fact that air cargo (more expensive, more difficult to go through security check at destination) is used rather than boat freight means that there should be some supply chain/market issues in Europe (police action? Newcomers?).

The (only) good news is that the most corrupted airport are generally the safest security speaking. The mafia hates to have any security issues that might trouble their operations.