On Saturday, a French fighter jet intercepted a small aircraft in southeast France. As the jet neared, the pilot began dumping bags of suspected cocaine from the plane, according to Agence France-Presse.
The single-seater tourist plane flew in the remote Ardèche region when the pilot breached highly restricted airspace around a nuclear power plant. AFP said the French Air Force dispatched a Dassault Rafale to intercept the small aircraft that was "judged to be maneuvering suspiciously."
A military spokesperson said the fighter pilot "witnessed very erratic behavior in the cockpit (of the tourist plane), real agitation." Over a few minutes, what happened next is like a scene from Tom Cruise's film "American Made" when the actor portrayed cocaine smuggler Barry Seal.
The fighter pilot said the man opened the plane door and tossed out packages. Investigators found 15 packages on the ground containing about 66 pounds (or 30kg) of 'white power.'
AFP said investigators are analyzing the white powder, and we're sure the suspected trafficker, a Polish national with a past drugs offense, wasn't dangerously flying around with baby powder...
Separately, the latest global cocaine trends were released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on Monday. They found a "prolonged surge in both supply and demand of cocaine, which is now being felt across the globe and is likely to spur the development of new markets beyond the traditional confines."
That may be why French authorities seized a record 156.7 tons of drugs last year. As for the 'Polish' version of Barry Seal... We can only imagine.
Here's a clip from American Made.
