Yesterday's confirmation that six people were in custody in France followed Venezuela's announcement on Sunday that three members of their security services had been detained on suspicion of involvement in smuggling that led to the biggest cocaine seizure ever on French soil.
The drugs with an estimated street value of 200 million euros were found inside 30 suitcases on a Caracas-Paris flight, according to French Interior Minister Manuel Valls, who announced the seizure on Saturday.
"The information that we have is that the (alleged traffickers) belong to a mafia of British and Italian nationals, who buy drugs in South America and then distribute it in Europe," Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez told a briefing.
Rodriguez said it was highly likely the smugglers had accomplices within Air France working with them. The airline has ordered an internal investigation and says it is working closely with the police over an incident that has, at the very least, exposed serious lapses in its security procedures in Caracas.
More From This Section
The six suspects come from two European countries, one of which is Italy, they said, adding that the smuggling was most likely organised by the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia said to be behind 80 per cent of the cocaine trade in Europe.
Under special powers used for investigations involving organised crime, the suspects can be held for up to 96 hours without charge.
The record seizure followed an investigation lasting several weeks which also involved British, Dutch and Spanish police.
Part of the haul was seized at the airport and some on a truck headed towards Luxembourg -- a route which suggests the end destination could have been the Netherlands or Britain.
Aviation security expert Christophe Naudin said the smuggling had to be an Air France inside job to some extent, given how the suitcases appear to have been loaded onto the plane without going through the normal check-in procedures.