Overview
- Le Monde and Lighthouse Reports reveal specialist maritime gendarmerie units received the nets in spring, with use now planned for at‑sea interceptions.
- Supplier documents describe devices that clog propellers, can neutralise multiple or high‑speed vessels, and are deployed 10–20 metres ahead to force compliance or change course.
- Operational plans envisage five to six patrol teams along the coast using gendarmerie boats, with a French Navy vessel on standby for support, according to sources.
- Coastguard representatives and the Solidaires Douanes union say the method could trigger panic on overcrowded dinghies and lead to fatalities, warning officers may face criminal liability.
- A November 10 meeting set conditions for any stop, including proving a vessel is not leisure or fishing and appears to be collecting migrants, as UK funding talks due in March increase pressure for tougher enforcement.