Cocaine worth more than £40million has been found aboard a private jet owned by a French tycoon based in London. The vast haul of drugs was found by customs officers in the Dominican Republic on a plane owned by millionaire businessman Alain Afflelou - who was not on board at the time. Officials boarded the Falcon jet minutes before it was due to leave the Caribbean island for Paris  and seized 26 suitcases packed with 680kg of the class A drug. Drugs seizure: £40million of cocaine was found on board Alain Afflelou's Falcon jet in the Dominican Republic . Four French nationals, as well as several local police officers, were arrested after the seizure on suspicion of being part of an international drug-trafficking network. Opticians chain owner Afflelou swiftly denied all knowledge of the drugs, stating he had loaned his plane out to Lyon-based Transhelicopter Services company. A spokesman for Mr Afflelou said after the bust on Sunday: 'Alain heard the news last night through the media and he's amazed. Tycoon: Mr Afflelou denied any knowledge of the drugs and was not on board the plane at the time . 'He will now take all the necessary steps to establish what happened. A letter demanding an explanation has also been sent to the French leasing company.' Mr Afflelou, 64, sparked a storm on controversy in December when he announced he was moving to Britain amid plans for massive tax hikes on France's highest earners. The businessman - who has an estimated £190 million fortune - is among a flood of French millionaires including film star Gerard Depardieu and musician Jean-Michel Jarre quitting France ahead of a looming 75 per cent tax on earnings above one million euros. Mr Afflelou sold around 70 per cent of his shares in his retail chain to UK investment firm Bridgeport in 2006, but remained a shareholder with capital. The chain has more than 890 stores in France as well as in other European countries and sells more than a 1.5 million pairs of glasses a yer. A new report revealed yesterday said that repressive tax regimes in France had lost the country up to a million jobs, with entrepreneurs fleeing abroad. Tax hikes and employment regulations imposed by left and right wing governments over 20 years meant there were now 60,000 French businessmen abroad employing around 16 people each .
Vast haul of drugs was found by customs in the Dominican Republic .
It was on a Falcon jet owned by millionaire businessman Alain Afflelou .
Officials seized 26 suitcases packed with 680kg of the class A drug .
Mr Afflelou was not on board and denied all knowledge of the drugs .
Cocaine worth more than £40million has been found aboard a private jet owned by a French tycoon based in London. The vast haul of drugs was found by customs officers in the Dominican Republic on a plane owned by millionaire businessman Alain Afflelou - who was not on board at the time. Officials boarded the Falcon jet minutes before it was due to leave the Caribbean island for Paris  and seized 26 suitcases packed with 680kg of the class A drug. Drugs seizure: £40million of cocaine was found on board Alain Afflelou's Falcon jet in the Dominican Republic . Four French nationals, as well as several local police officers, were arrested after the seizure on suspicion of being part of an international drug-trafficking network. Opticians chain owner Afflelou swiftly denied all knowledge of the drugs, stating he had loaned his plane out to Lyon-based Transhelicopter Services company. A spokesman for Mr Afflelou said after the bust on Sunday: 'Alain heard the news last night through the media and he's amazed. Tycoon: Mr Afflelou denied any knowledge of the drugs and was not on board the plane at the time . 'He will now take all the necessary steps to establish what happened. A letter demanding an explanation has also been sent to the French leasing company.' Mr Afflelou, 64, sparked a storm on controversy in December when he announced he was moving to Britain amid plans for massive tax hikes on France's highest earners. The businessman - who has an estimated £190 million fortune - is among a flood of French millionaires including film star Gerard Depardieu and musician Jean-Michel Jarre quitting France ahead of a looming 75 per cent tax on earnings above one million euros. Mr Afflelou sold around 70 per cent of his shares in his retail chain to UK investment firm Bridgeport in 2006, but remained a shareholder with capital. The chain has more than 890 stores in France as well as in other European countries and sells more than a 1.5 million pairs of glasses a yer. A new report revealed yesterday said that repressive tax regimes in France had lost the country up to a million jobs, with entrepreneurs fleeing abroad. Tax hikes and employment regulations imposed by left and right wing governments over 20 years meant there were now 60,000 French businessmen abroad employing around 16 people each .
based in London. The vast haul of drugs was found by customs officers in the Dominican Republic on a plane owned by millionaire businessman Alain Paris  and seized 26 suitcases packed with 680kg of the class A drug. Drugs seizure: £40million of Falcon jet in the Dominican Republic . Four Afflelou swiftly denied all knowledge of the denied any knowledge of the drugs and was not on