France and Brazil coordinate narcotics checks
Both Brazilian and French authorities launched extensive joint drug searches this week in a bid to curb the inflow of cocaine coming into Europe. French officials announced Thursday that selected flights arriving from Sao Paulo would see all passengers screened for illicit items.
The move saw three flights to Paris encompassing a total of 750 passengers and their crew searched. Two of the flights were Air France jets and one owned by the company’s partner Holland-based carrier, KLM. The aircraft were taken aside on Wednesday at Sao Paulo airport and all passengers were body frisked and carry-on and checked luggage was searched thoroughly with sniffer dogs.
According to the liaison officer for the French consulate in Sao Paulo, France initiated the operation as a means to gauge the extent of trafficking going between Brazil and Europe. Additionally, the move was designed to disrupt any established routes being used by highly organised gangs.
Since 2008 Brazil has seemingly replaced Venezuela and Colombia to become a major trafficking port for drugs brought into France. So far, 40 per cent of the eight tonnes of cocaine seized by authorities since 2008 have originated in Brazil.
While the airport checks in Sao Paulo only turned up minor infractions, including a Peruvian woman with $35,000 cash that she failed to explain along with four kilos of amphetamines found by sniffer dogs in luggage headed from Brazil to Japan, officers say this is only the first step.
The initial plans for searches included scanning passengers for condoms full of narcotics that were swallowed, but those were abandoned when only a limited number of police were available to carry-out searches on Brazil’s end. Evaluations of the first checks will be made and future ones considered, according to the French liaison.