Operation Atalanta’s first counter-narcotic interception
On 21st of March, the French navy’s LHD Mistral and frigate Courbet seized four tons of cannabis and 90 kilograms of heroin on a stateless dhow. The interception occurred during a regular EUNAVFOR Somalia counter-piracy patrol to protect vessels transiting off the Horn of Africa and the Western Indian Ocean. Both vessels from the French navy’s Jeanne d´Arc 22 Mission participated in Direct Support in Operation ATALANTA.
OPERATION COMMAND
Still in February 2022, the dominating topic for the Operation has remained the imminent way ahead due to the debates at the UNSC around the extension or non-extension of the UNSC resolution 2608 (2021) on the fight against piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia. Nevertheless, this scenario has not kept Atalanta from performing its duties to the highest extent of its possibilities and means.
OPERATION COMMAND
The year 2022 began as busy as the previous year had ended, and the future of Operation Atalanta has remained a dominating topic, i.e. the extension or non-extension of the UNSC resolution 2608 (2021) on the fight against piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia beyond the 3rd of March 2022.