The French Navy has intercepted a vessel carrying a shipment of cocaine in the Caribbean, transferring the boat and those on board to Barbadian authorities, France’s Armed Forces Minister

announced on Thursday. The operation comes as the United States and its allies intensify coordinated efforts to curb drug trafficking across the region.

France, which maintains overseas territories in both the Caribbean and Latin America, has stepped up its anti-narcotics operations in recent months. French naval patrols have become a key part of international surveillance efforts aimed at disrupting maritime drug routes that link South American producers to North American and European markets.

The crackdown reflects growing concern at home. According to a report released in December by the French Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, cocaine has overtaken cannabis as the most commonly used illegal drug in France. Authorities say the shift has fueled a rise in gang-related violence and organized crime, particularly in urban areas.

French officials are also taking the fight abroad. During a recent visit to Colombia — the world’s largest producer of cocaine — Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot unveiled a broad strategy targeting drug trafficking networks across Latin America, the Caribbean and, increasingly, Europe. Paris is now pushing for a European Union sanctions regime aimed at dismantling the financial and logistical structures that sustain the global cocaine trade. Photo by Photographs taken by Yannick Auberger, Wikimedia commons.