31 unmarked suitcases on board a flight from Venezuela to France raised an eyebrow among the French police, who investigated the matter only to uncover 1.3 tons of pure cocaine: $270 million worth of the white pony. This was discovered on Sept. 11, but only publicized this Saturday, as they had to suppress the details for “operational reasons” — that is, to further investigate the matter.
The luggage was registered under pseudonyms that corresponded with none of the passengers. Nine men have been arrested regarding the contrabands — among them, three British, three Italian, three Police National Guard officers in the Venezuelan capital Caracas. The case is believed to possibly be connected to the 881 pounds of cocaine seized in a truck bound from Luxembourg.
The BBC reported that France’s Interior minister called this the biggest drug haul ever made in the Paris area. Nevertheless, the White House viewed the incident as proof that drug prevention is lax, saying that Venezuela, Bolivia, and Burma have not done enough to prevent global narcotics smuggling.
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro retorted that such criticism was a “politically motivated smear campaign,” and pointed out that anti-narcotics have improved since 2005. They are due to improve even more, now that this incident has shocked authorities.