Police seized some 200 weapons and four kilograms (8.8 pounds) of heroin and detained 21 suspects in a series of raids this week in southern France, The Associated Press quoted officials as saying today. The three raids in the Var and Bouches-du-Rhone regions on the Mediterranean coast produced France's biggest arms seizure in years, police said. Among the arms were 50 heavy weapons such as Kalashnikov assault rifles, according to the regional police headquarters. Police from the national anti-organized crime brigade in Paris joined regional police in the raids, which started Saturday. Prosecutors in the city of Toulon had opened an investigation several months ago into an alleged arms ring operating in Var and Bouches-du-Rhone.
