A French fighter jet intercepted a tourist plane over a remote region of France over the weekend, leading the pilot of the small aircraft to throw out more than a dozen bags of suspected drugs, security and air force sources told AFP.
One of France’s most modern fighters was sent to check on the single-seater tourist plane over the remote Ardèche region on Saturday after it flew through restricted airspace near a nuclear plant and was judged to be manoeuvring suspiciously.
As the Rafale jet drew near, the air force pilot “witnessed very erratic behaviour in the cockpit (of the tourist plane), real agitation”, a military spokesperson told AFP. “Over the course of a few minutes, he saw the door open and packages being thrown out.”
The suspected trafficker, a Polish national with a past drugs offence, was arrested after he landed at an airstrip in Lanas, Ardèche, the local prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Tuesday.
Investigators found about 15 packages on the ground, containing an estimated 30kg of a white powder that is being analysed.
They also found more than €45,000 ($49,000) in the cockpit of the Polish-registered plane and the pilot’s bag.
The incident follows the discovery of more than two tonnes of cocaine on the beaches of northern France in March.
Last year, French authorities seized a record 156.7 tonnes of drugs, according to the interior ministry.