G7 Port Security Network Targets Maritime Drug Trade

France announced a 14-port G7-backed network on Nov. 9 to disrupt drug trafficking through maritime supply chains, while its government estimates that “70% of drugs entering Europe arrive by sea and through ports.”

The G7+ Ports Network to Combat Drug Trafficking was announced during the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Paris on Nov. 9. It links major seaports, customs authorities and international organizations, with participating countries including Brazil and South Korea alongside the G7 nations.

France’s Foreign Ministry said the network would hold its first meeting in Marseille alongside the Nov. 9-10 ministerial gathering. The announcement did not identify all 14 participating ports, assign lead agencies or name any shipping line or terminal operator, limiting early visibility into who would carry out the work.

What will the network coordinate?

The initiative gives members three core tasks:

• Share intelligence on criminal use of maritime supply chains.
• Strengthen cooperation between port authorities and customs agencies.
• Identify shipping routes and containers that criminal organizations exploit.

The program will exchange best practices, coordinate law enforcement with port operators, and identify vulnerabilities in international cargo chains. The announcement sets no enforcement powers, data platform, budget, targets or deadlines.

It also gives no trade-lane, TEU, throughput, vessel-call or capacity figures, so any effect on cargo volumes or available shipping capacity remains unquantified.

Where did the initiative originate?

The proposal first appeared at the G7 leaders’ summit in Évian, France, in June. The leaders’ joint declaration identified maritime transport as the “primary route for international drug and precursor chemical trafficking.” It committed participating countries to stronger maritime security, more resilient ports and closer work with the shipping industry to disrupt illicit cargo movements.

The June declaration also warned that criminal organizations increasingly use access to legitimate public and private institutions to move drugs internationally. G7 leaders called for more private-sector cooperation and stronger port and shipping security standards, addressing concerns that organized-crime groups have infiltrated legitimate port operations and logistics networks.

Which bodies will support the work?

The network will coordinate with the existing European Ports Alliance and draw on standards in the International Maritime Organization’s International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, known as ISPS. Participating organizations include:

• International Maritime Organization
• Interpol
• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
• World Customs Organization

France has made maritime trafficking a central part of its broader international counternarcotics strategy. The network also calls for financial investigations into drug-trafficking proceeds, a measure aimed at the money side of the threat rather than only the containers themselves.

What changes for shippers, carriers and forwarders?

For shipping companies and terminal operators, the stated commercial consequence is closer cooperation with customs and law enforcement at commercial ports and container terminals. That could bring requests for operational information and greater scrutiny of security practices. It does not, however, create a disclosed mandatory screening rule, reporting duty, fee or staffing requirement.

For shippers and freight forwarders, the likely first effect is more precise intelligence around routes and containers used by traffickers. That may lead to additional documentation, route reviews or targeted checks, although the announcement does not say which measures authorities will require. No trade lane is singled out, and no shipping line, terminal operator or cargo owner has yet been named.

The program also seeks to prevent criminal infiltration of port authorities and private businesses. Its success therefore depends partly on whether operators trust the enforcement agencies with which they must cooperate, while the risk for legitimate trade is that information demands and security checks add friction without reducing diversion.

Can enforcement scale without slowing trade?

France’s new action plan, released Monday alongside the announcement, gives the network a concrete starting point. In 2025, the government handled 20 requests to board vessels suspected of carrying drugs on the high seas. Those requests resulted in seizures of nearly 40 metric tons of narcotics, almost entirely cocaine.

That 40-metric-ton figure measures seized drugs, not containerized freight tonnage, and the announcement provides no port-by-port seizure data, year-on-year comparison or forecast. France also does not say how the 20 requests were distributed among vessels or ports, so the record cannot establish which enforcement model will be most effective.

The practical test begins in Marseille: whether customs, port operators and international organizations can turn shared intelligence into specific controls, protect legitimate trade and prevent criminal groups from exploiting access to public and private institutions. If the Nov. 9-10 talks produce enforceable procedures rather than another pledge, the network could tighten routes available to traffickers; if not, 14-port membership will remain coordination without measurable effects on trafficking or trade.