A major drug trafficker from Trappes has just fallen into the nets of investigators from the regional directorate of the judicial police of Versailles.
Monday, after a year of investigation carried out using advanced technical means, five men, aged 26 to 35, were indicted in Versailles, before being imprisoned in various prisons in the Paris region. .
Convoys from the south to the north of Europe
They are suspected of having organized or participated in an import network for cannabis resin and cocaine between Morocco, South America and even Germany, via Trappes and Béziers (Hérault).
In March 2019, the Versailles investigators were interested in a South American cocaine trafficking network that was thriving between Guyana, Suriname and the Paris region.
The police officers more particularly monitor the activities of an intermediary who comes regularly to Ile-de-France to meet clients and carry out transactions.
Among his contacts, investigators discover a 32-year-old Moroccan living in Trappes, already notoriously known for organizing cannabis deliveries between Spain, southern France and northern Europe.
The police identify the cars on the network.
And thanks to the telephony and the surveillance of the motorways, they observe many journeys between Spain, Béziers, Trappes, Germany and the Benelux.
Some are organized in a “go fast” convoy, with an opening car and another equipped with a cache for money or drugs, depending on the occasion.
PODCAST. The dealers moved to Snapchat
The criminals use applications such as WhatsApp, Snapchat or Instagram during their period of activity.
The police learned there that in November 2019, two "mules" from Suriname stayed three days in a low-end hotel in Rungis (Val-de-Marne) to expel drugs that they were carrying in their body.
A total of 700 g of cocaine worth 15,000 euros were delivered to the Trappes trafficker organization.
124 cocaine balls in the stomach ...
Time goes by, car journeys are increasing and the protagonists are increasingly suspicious.
Telephone conversations are abandoned in favor of encrypted exchanges.
Containment comes in March 2020 and freezes network activities, which resume during the summer.
In September, investigators keep a closer watch on the trafficker's apartment in Trappes and record exchanges that allow them to materialize the existence of the illegal activities of the tenant and his accomplices.
It talks about a new shipment of cocaine.
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Thursday, October 29, a man arrives at Orly airport from Cayenne (Guyana) with 124 cocaine balls in his stomach.
He gets into a taxi which takes him to the apartment in Trappes where the trafficker, two of his brothers and a resident of Béziers expect him to return the goods.
... and 30,000 euros hidden in socks
At 6 p.m., the police took over the apartment and arrested the four suspects.
The fifth thief is picked up fifteen minutes later at the foot of the building in his car.
During searches, investigators got hold of 965 g of cocaine and 30,000 euros hidden in socks, stored in the drum of the washing machine.
In a closet, they still find 750 euros, luxury clothes and accessories.
The five men are placed in police custody in the premises of the Versailles judicial police.
Shortly after, the apartment of one of the suspects in Béziers was also searched.
The police discovered there nearly 12 kg of cannabis and 3,500 euros.
The mule will expel another 135 g of cocaine at the Hôtel-Dieu hospital (Paris, IVe).
The smuggler admits that he was to receive 8,000 euros for his participation and confides that this is his third transport to France.
The Trappes trafficker, after having remained silent for a while, ends up giving some details about his activities without wanting to reveal the identity of his accomplices for fear of reprisals.
His two brothers maintain that they are not involved in the drug business.
As for the Biterrois, he confides that he kept the drugs on behalf of the head of the network and that the money found at his home was… won at the casino.
"A local police and justice approach"
Maryvonne Caillibotte, prosecutor of Versailles deciphers her vision of the fight against drug trafficking on the occasion of the arrest of these five importers in Trappes.
What lessons do you draw from this dismantled network affair in Trappes?
MARYVONNE CAILLIBOTTE.
This file is interesting because it is carried out by the judicial police.
It no longer fights only against international contraband, but also against trafficking with very localized effects, directly affecting our fellow citizens.
With the director of the judicial police of Versailles, Christophe Descom, we want these specialized investigators to work across the entire spectrum, including in the territories of the Paris region.
Moreover, the judicial police have also joined forces for several months with the public security police to conduct joint operations which are yielding very interesting results.
What are your angles of attack against drug trafficking?
If we want our actions to have a real impact on the population, this must be part of a local police and justice approach.
An approach which, however, is not limited to petty crime which disturbs the peace of the population, but can also result in a fight against serious, violent and heavy crime.
The fight against narcotics encompasses a whole chain of offenses, from the user who is punished by a fixed fine to international traffic which leads to lengthy investigations.
So we must not leave anything out and tackle it from all possible angles.