DRUGS FOUND ON A PARIS BOUND AIRFRANCE FLIGHT

Three Britons have been arrested over the smuggling of 1.3 tons of cocaine in the luggage of an Air France

flight.

French police found the drugs on a flight from Venezuela's capital Caracas to Charles de Gaulle airport in

Paris.

The cocaine, said to have a street value of some £175m (€200m), was found packed into 30 suitcases

carried on a flight that left Venezuela on September 10.

The huge find was only made public on Sunday.

The UK's Foreign Office has confirmed that three unnamed Britons are being held in France.

Some of the drugs were destined for Britain

They are among a total of nine suspects detained so far. Three Italians and three Venezuelan police officers

are also in custody, according to Venezuelan prosecutors.

British police from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) have been involved in the investigation

along

with officers from Spain and Holland.

A source from Soca told Sky News that some of the drug haul was expected to have ended up on British

streets. Soca said the operation is not being linked to recent high-profile smuggling arrests involving Britons.

French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said it was the biggest find of its type in metropolitan France.

French police commander Mohamed Douhane said: "Such a seizure, in such circumstances, is quite simply

exceptional."
None of the suitcases were apparently registered to any passengers. It is not clear how the stash would have

been collected.

Air France said it was still trying to find out how the drugs made it onto the plane.

The airline said "immediate" steps were being taken to improve checks on baggage from "certain sensitive

destinations".

Last year, Venezuelan security forces working with Colombian authorities and US and British intelligence

agencies caught one of the most-wanted Colombian kingpins - Daniel "Crazy" Barrera - during an operation

in a Venezuelan border city.
Source: Skynews