Three men and two women, aged 25 to 50, have been indicted in connection with the dismantling of drug trafficking which allowed the seizure of 590 kilos of cannabis resin, the interregional court announced on Friday. specialized (JIRS) of Nancy.
Among the five suspects, three were imprisoned, said in a statement the JIRS of Nancy, where a judicial investigation had been opened in early 2020 for "
importation of narcotics in an organized gang
", "
drug trafficking
" and "
money laundering
".
A sixth man, considered to be one of the main suspects, was arrested at the same time in Spain by the Guardia Civil, in execution of a European arrest warrant.
Its handover to the French authorities could take place in the coming weeks, added the same source.
The drugs, still packaged for “
wholesale
”
transport
and representing a value of over one million euros, were discovered on board two vehicles parked in a box in Tinqueux (Marne).
It was in the form of bundles of around 30 kilos, JIRS explained.
The searches also led to the seizure of a 7.65 caliber automatic pistol with ammunition, cash (22,000 euros in total) and five vehicles, two of which were found to be stolen.
Finally, the investigators targeted the accounts of a vehicle rental company, suspected of being used to launder part of the proceeds of trafficking.
At the origin of this case, as often, the center for the fight against digital crime of the national gendarmerie (C3N) which carries out, under the direction of the JIRS of Lille, investigations on a computer server housing encrypted communications of the network EncroChat.
A judicial investigation had thus been opened at the beginning of 2020 at the JIRS in Nancy while the investigation had been entrusted to the research sections of Nancy and Reims, the territorial direction of the judicial police (DTPJ) of Nancy being responsible for carrying out the investigations. on the financial laundering of the proceeds of this trafficking.
A year was then necessary to monitor and reassemble this network which imported large quantities of drugs from Spain before the operation Monday of the investigators, reinforced by the observation and monitoring group and the GIGN antenna in Reims to arrest suspects in Marne, Aude and Meuse.