French police found a record-breaking 2,204 pounds of cocaine hidden in 31 unmarked suitcases on an Air France flight from Venezuela to Paris.
Three National Guard officials have been arrested in alleged connection with the crime.
According to Reuters, around 200 million euros - nearly $270 million - worth of pure cocaine was stored in bags that had been packed on board under fake names. The multicolored, unmarked luggage didn't belong to any passengers on the plane from the Venezuelan capital of Caracas to Charles de Gaulle airport.
Air France officials said it was still unclear how the suitcases made it onto the aircraft, and were in the midst of an investigation into how the coke got tossed into the belly of the plane.
"Pending the results of these investigations, immediate measures have been taken to enhance our checks of baggage and goods on departure from certain sensitive destinations," Air France wrote in a statement.
The drugs were found earlier this month, but the news was released on Saturday. Just one day after the airline released an official statement, Reuters reported that a first sergeant, second sergeant and a first lieutenant reportedly "[committed] crimes established by Venezuelan law," according to the prosecutor's office. The representative did not specify which charges it intended on filing, but also mentioned that six people - three Italian citizens and two Brits - had been detained in Paris.
"This marks the biggest seizure of cocaine ever made in mainland France as part of a judicial investigation," French Interior Minister Manuel Valls told reporters, Saturday, remarking that the drugs had a wholesale price of 50 million euros.
According to drug enforcement officials, Venezuela is a strategic location for smuggling, given its placement between Caribbean and Atlantic waters - ships and planes can easily move Colombian cocaine into the United States and Europe through Africa or South America.
