Crew Set Fire To Cargo Ship Carrying 20 Tonnes Of Cannabis

The crew of a cargo ship carrying 20 tonnes of cannabis set fire to the vessel when intercepted in the Mediterranean by the French Navy.
 The 82 metre-long ’Luna-S,’ registered in Tanzania, was spotted by a French Customs aircraft in international waters in an area south-west of Sardinia and north- east of Algeria.
 It is thought to have left Morocco for Egypt or Libya and was transporting no other cargo apart from the cannabis.

The crew of a cargo ship carrying 20 tonnes of cannabis set fire to the vessel when intercepted in the Mediterranean by the French Navy.
 The 82 metre-long ’Luna-S,’ registered in Tanzania, was spotted by a French Customs aircraft in international waters in an area south-west of Sardinia and north- east of Algeria.
 It is thought to have left Morocco for Egypt or Libya and was transporting no other cargo apart from the cannabis.
 "To our our knowledge, this haul (of cannabis) is the biggest ever seized by the French state in the Mediterranean. It’s an exceptional take," a senior French Customs official said. The cannabis had an estimated street value of between €40 million and €50 million.
 France’s biggest haul of cannabis dates back to 1999 when duty men uncovered 23.5 tonnes in the Channel port of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
 Pulling alongside the Luna-S, the French Navy, aided by Algerian counteparts, began the task of tackling the fire which took several hours to put out. Just under half of the cannabis was preserved from the flames.
 "It was an act of clearly prepared sabotage," the official said, adding that the crew did not put up any resistance when the Luna-S was boarded.
 The ship was towed by tug-boat to the French port of Toulon.
 The Luna-S’ eight-man crew, who told investigators they were of Syrian nationality. were taken into custody. They face charges of drug-trafficking and risk up to 10 years in prison.
 Quizzed on how the vessel had alerted suspicion, the Customs offical said it had been sailing a little outside normal trade lanes and that intelligence services had also provided information.
 He added that the Luna-S "had disappeared from its normal routes for a number of weeks which made it suspect."
 It is the third cargo ship transporting a significant tonnage of cannabis to be intercepted in the western Mediterranean in the past six months, the others being the ’Adam’ in April and the ’Gold Star’ earlier this month, both of which were boarded by the Italian Coast Guard.
 Investigators are seeking to establish whether there is a link between the traffickers behind the Gold Star drug consignment and those of the Luna-S.