Two in court over £1.2 million cannabis raid

Friday 19 June 2015

Two Frenchmen are due in court this morning over a police operation that seized £1.2 million worth of cannabis in a dusk raid at Bouley Bay on Wednesday night.

Police have released pictures of the haul this morning, and confirmed the names of the two men arrested.

Emmanuel Gautier (28) and Emmanuel Yves Joel Halais (38) were charged by police last night and are due in court this morning.

It was announced yesterday that police – working with French and Guernsey authorities and the Jersey Customs and Immigration team – had made the seizure and arrests as part of “Operation Lundy”.

A statement from Detective Inspector Steve Langford yesterday said that the police had been targeting the would-be smugglers for some time, and that the arrests were a big blow to drug traffickers targeting Jersey.

He said: “These arrests and seizure were as result of a long-term intelligence-led operation where the States of Jersey Police were working with Jersey Customs and Immigration Service, as well as French enforcement Agencies and the Guernsey Border Agencies.

“The seizure, estimated to have a street value of £1.2m, will be a major & significant disruption to those involved in drug trafficking criminality through the Channel Islands.”

The seizure is the biggest for some time - the most recent States of Jersey Police Annual Report, for 2013, recorded that total drug seizures for the year were worth £270,000. That figure is less than a quarter of the haul from Wednesday’s raid.