Pubdate: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 Source: Reuters Copyright: 1999 Reuters Limited. FRENCH CUSTOMS SEIZE 23.5 TONNES OF CANNABIS RESIN LILLE, France, French customs officials said on Wednesday they had seized 23.5 tonnes of cannabis resin from a boat they boarded in the English Channel, the largest cannabis haul on French territory. The discovery, worth an estimated 200 million francs ($34.3 million), was the second big drugs seizure for French law enforcement authorities in the past few days. Police raiding a suburban Paris warehouse at the weekend found 1.2 tonnes of cocaine concealed in a van and a disused merry-go-round. Customs officers discovered the cannabis resin concealed in the hold of an ageing fishing vessel, the Nemo, sailing under an Estonian flag with a 16- member crew from Latvia and Poland, the officials said. Investigators said they believed the drugs were from Morocco. The boat was heading through the English Channel when it was stopped and boarded by customs officials and ordered into the northern port of Boulogne-sur-Mer. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea