A €10 million cocaine shipment vanished during a failed sting in Marseille, triggering indictments of police officers, suspensions of top drug commanders, and fresh comparisons to the city’s infamous French Connection heroin era.
At a Glance
- French police recovered just 900g of a 400kg cocaine shipment.
- Three officers were indicted; two were jailed for trafficking-related charges.
- Top commanders at Ofast, France’s anti-drug unit, were suspended.
- The scandal mirrors the 1960s French Connection heroin crisis.
- President Macron launched a national investigation into police corruption.
Sting Operation Implodes
In April 2023, France’s elite drug unit Ofast launched Operation Trident to intercept 400 kilograms of Colombian cocaine arriving through Marseille. Only 900 grams were ultimately recovered, with the remainder—worth roughly €10 million—vanishing without explanation. Investigators suspect internal sabotage. According to The Times, traffickers were tipped off ahead of the bust.
Three officers have been indicted on organized trafficking charges, with two already in custody. Suspicion now extends to Ofast leadership: both the agency’s chief and its deputy superintendent were suspended amid allegations they authorized or ignored irregular procedures linked to the shipment.
Watch a report: France’s Drug Police Under Fire
Shadows of the French Connection
The scandal’s magnitude has prompted comparisons to the historic French Connection network, when Marseille served as the heroin capital of the Western world. At its height in the 1960s, up to 80% of America’s heroin supply was trafficked through Marseille by syndicates that allegedly colluded with corrupt law enforcement.
French media and lawmakers fear the resurgence of cartel-style networks deeply embedded within policing structures. A Le Monde investigation describes how Marseille’s modern-day DZ Mafia mimics past mob strategies: infiltration, political neutrality, and localized terror.
Macron Faces Institutional Crisis
President Emmanuel Macron has launched a full-scale internal review of the Ofast unit and its leadership. In the wake of the scandal, more than 4,000 officers were deployed weekly to dismantle gang zones, following a record 49 drug-linked homicides in Marseille in 2023. But critics warn the rot runs deeper than any tactical crackdown.
Lawmakers are calling for a parliamentary inquiry and overhaul of internal oversight within France’s policing apparatus. They fear Marseille may be sliding toward narco-state conditions if institutional complicity is not rooted out. The scandal underscores a grim possibility: that France’s elite drug-fighting force has become an unwitting accomplice to the trade it was meant to destroy.
