The main roads of drugs to France are known. Cannabis coming from Morocco by Spain, the cocaine of South America via the ports of West Africa, the Afghan heroine taking the Chemin des Balkans. But you have probably never heard of another path: that which passes through the South Pacific islands, in particular by French Polynesia.
However, tons of narcotic products, bringing up to the 3 to 6 billion euros annually generated by this market, there, according to the report of the report of the report of the narcotrafic in May 2024.
French Polynesia, “an obligatory crossing point”
“The area of French Polynesia, the Marquesas islands in particular, is an obligatory passage point for ships loaded with cocaine which go to Australia or New Zealand from Colombia, Ecuador or Peru,” it is said to the antisputants (OFast) office in Nanterre.
“These islands are also a crossing point for ships, container ships, cruise, fishing boats or sailboats loaded with methamphetamine,” said the French agency. Foreign criminal groups seek to conquer shares in methamphetamine traffic market in Australia. »»
At the end of the road, Australia and New Zealand
Initially, there are central and southern America drug producers. At the end of the road, consumers in Australia and, to a lesser extent, in New Zealand. The consumption of cocaine is one of the most important in the world in Australia, behind North America. Drug trafficking is extremely remunerative. According to Colombian authorities, a kilogram of cocaine sells up to $ 240,000 in Australia, while the price in the United States is between 33,000 and 40,000 dollars.
“This drug road which passes through French Polynesia has existed for ten, fifteen years, reports Serge Puccetti, regional director of customs of French Polynesia, based in Tahiti. But the seizures on these flows towards Australia and New Zealand increase thanks to international cooperation, the work of all services and the motivation of customs agents in Polynesia. »»
Record seizures
Almost every year, records fall. On July 14, a seizure of 900 kg of cocaine and 180 kg of methamphetamine was made on a wetting sailboat in the Marquesas Islands, one of the five archipelagos of French Polynesia. The drug had been charged in Mexico towards Australia, according to the prosecution.
A few days earlier, on June 25, the French Navy seized 2.5 tonnes of cocaine in a motor boat, near New Caledonia. On board this ship, who left Peru and on the way to Australia, the equivalent of 500 million euros.
Local consumption of “Ice” that prosperous
If cocaine transit by Polynesian archipelagos, this product is very little consumed locally. On these lands, alongside the very widespread use of cannabis, it is the so -called “ICE” methamphetamine, in its crystalline form, which is the most consumed amazing product. An illicit trade “little addressed in the public debate on drug trafficking”, estimates the commission of inquiry into drug drugs in France, which admits having “discovered the phenomenon”.
“The success of the ICE is understood with regard to the drug market in French Polynesia, whose offer is relatively poor: only Paka, that is to say cannabis, and Ice are easily found”, according to the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Trends (OFDT).
Dose from 0.02 to 0.03 gram of Ice
Appeared twenty years ago in the surf industry, methamphetamine was produced in Mexico before being transported to the United States, then shipped to the Pacific. In 2023, according to the commission of inquiry on drug trafficking, “24 kilograms of ICE were seized, which represents a considerable volume for a population of 280,000 inhabitants and for a product which sold by dose of 0.02 to 0.03 gram”.
Because this synthetic drug is extremely expensive. “The very high price of this product generally does not allow purchases to the gram but at” ten “, a purchase unit from 0.01 to 0.05 gram” costing around 80 euros, underlines the OFAST in Nanterre. For accustomed consumers, “this allows you to take advantage of 3 or 4” puffs “. »»
“Professionalization of this traffic”
“From 20 to 30 dollars in the United States the gram of ICE, it increased to 2,500 dollars in Polynesia. It is currently around 1,700 dollars. A price that decreases, this means that this product is currently easier to obtain, ”says regional official Serge Puccetti.
Our file on drugs
An ease of access which reflects the adaptation of traffickers to ship. “ICE importation into French Polynesia was mainly through air, because there are daily flights between Polynesia and the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu,” recalls Serge Puccetti. But express and postal freight has become very controlled. The traffickers report on maritime freight ”.
Criminal organizations have also evolved and are increasingly structured, notes the regional customs director. And today we find Mexican cartels with maneuver. “We can speak of professionalization of this traffic, specifies Serge Puccetti, with organized international flows, sophistication in telecommunications means and the exploitation of mules. It is up to us to adapt to the methods of traffickers who evolve very quickly. International cooperation is essential for this huge work, up to the gigantism of the Pacific Ocean and its 2,500 inhabited islands.
