Eighteen people suspected of belonging to a "
vast
" drug sales network in a city of Marseille were arrested and more than 173 kg of cannabis and more than 200,000 euros and weapons seized, the prosecution announced on Wednesday.
Read also: Drug trafficking in Marseille "is not an uncontrollable phenomenon"
“
The meticulous investigations, started a year ago
” and carried out by the anti-narcotics office in Marseille, “
around a very active team of criminals, have brought to light the existence of a vast criminal structure. , diversified and hierarchical capable of carrying out the supply, management, and resale of resin and herbal cannabis, and cocaine within the city of Castellane
”, in the 15th arrondissement of the city, explains in a press release the prosecutor Dominique Laurens. "
All the protagonists of this network have been identified as well as their level of participation: supervisor, manager, feeder, nanny (people who store drugs). The same is true of several dwellings which served as storage places within the city and certain conspiratorial apartments outside the city,
”adds the magistrate.
The searches led to the seizure of 173 kg of cannabis, 648 g of cocaine, four handguns, a Kalashnikov assault rifle, 224,424 euros in cash, several vehicles and bulletproof vests.
The operation carried out in execution of a rogatory commission from an investigating judge of the specialized interregional jurisdiction of Marseille mobilized more than 250 police officers.
The 18 people arrested will be referred for indictment on the counts of “
unauthorized transport, possession, offer or transfer, unauthorized acquisition of narcotics, criminal conspiracy and non-justification of resources
”.
Read also: Outbreak of violence in Marseille against a background of drug trafficking
This announcement comes after the announcement Monday in Marseille of the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin of the creation of a fine for squatters of building halls and lookouts responsible for preventing drug traffickers of the arrival of police officers, a measure criticized by many players in this type of case. "
This announcement is nonsense
", for example reacted to AFP lawyer Frédéric Monneret: "
A lookout who becomes an accomplice in drug trafficking already incurs the same penalty as the trafficker or ten years in prison (...) We cannot in law convict a person twice for the same facts, so this fine is useless
”.