French officials announced Tuesday that 100 bales of cocaine were seized last Thursday during a joint operation with the United States.
According to the High Commission in French Polynesia, the vessel was intercepted at sea but allowed to resume its voyage, in line with international law.
No details were provided regarding the ship’s flag, origin, or destination.
The 2.4-tonne seizure is the third major interception in Polynesian waters since the beginning of the year.
On 02 February, the French navy seized 4.24 tonnes of cocaine after intercepting a suspect vessel identified by customs authorities. In mid-January, another Australia-bound ship was found carrying 4.87 tonnes. Combined, authorities have intercepted nearly 12 tonnes of cocaine worth US$2.4 billion near French Polynesia since the start of 2026.
The United Nations has previously warned that organised criminal groups trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine are expanding across the Pacific, using the region as a transit route between the Americas and markets in Australia and New Zealand.
The latest Pacific haul comes against the backdrop of a serious rise in cocaine seizures by the French.
In 2025, French authorities seized a record 81 tonnes of cocaine, a 50 percent increase compared with 2024 and nearly four times the amount seized in 2023, according to figures from the French Interior Ministry. More than half of last year’s seized cocaine was intercepted in the Caribbean.
Domestic demand has also reached historic levels. According to France’s Observatory for Drugs and Addictive Trends (OFDT), 1.1 million people consumed cocaine at least once in 2023.
The average price per gramme on the street has fallen from 66 euros (US$78) in 2023 to 58 euros (US$68) in 2024, according to the French anti-narcotics agency, intensifying competition among criminal networks.
Global cocaine production is currently estimated at around 4,000 tonnes per year.
