Two smugglers set fire to their own sailboat as authorities approach

Last week, French maritime authorities questioned, arrested and rescued two smugglers aboard a yacht filled with cocaine, which the suspects tried to light as law enforcement approached.

On Wednesday night, French customs carried out an operation to intercept the sailboat The Dahu, which was underway in the Bay of Biscay. The Polish-flagged ship was just 15 miles from the port of Brest, according to local newspaper Le Télégramme.

The French customs department first identified the sailboat as a target while it was in the Caribbean, before its transatlantic crossing. Customs authorities worked with the Atlantic maritime prefecture, the French Anti-Narcotics Office, the Brest prosecutor and the US Drug Enforcement Agency to track the ship throughout its journey. It also obtained permission from Poland – the sailboat’s flag state – to carry out a boarding on the high seas.

On the evening of May 23, a French customs plane carried out an overflight to confirm the position of the sailboat. The crew of the customs ship Kermorvan intercepted the boat, but as they approached, the two crew members on board The Dahu set fire to their own ship and attempted to sink it. They were rescued by the crew of the Kermorvan and arrested, and the cargo – 19 bales of cocaine – was seized.

According to Le Télégramme, one of the two suspects was injured in the fire and transported to hospital to receive further treatment.

In total, customs officers seized 406 kilos of cocaine at The Dahu, an amount worth approximately $12 million on the wholesale market. The Brest public prosecutor's office has entrusted the case to the special public prosecutor's office in Rennes, which will continue the investigation.