Drug trafficking: one of the biggest French barons kept in detention

The Bordeaux Court of Appeal on Friday kept in detention one of the most important French drug traffickers, Moufide Bouchibi, arrested in March in Dubai and who asked for his "

", we learned from the general prosecutor's office.

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Nicknamed “

”, this 41-year-old man from Essonne is imprisoned in Gradignan prison, near Bordeaux.

Pending his new trial scheduled for September 1 and 2 in Bordeaux, the Court of Appeal ordered his continued detention, confirming a July 6 judgment of the Criminal Court, which notably referred to a "

”.

No extradition request

Moufide Bouchibi demanded his "

" on the grounds that he had been handed over to France on 12 May irregularly, "

" and "

" of an extradition agreement binding the France to the United Arab Emirates.

"

", which aimed to evade the rules of such a procedure, often long, according to his lawyer Thomas Bidnic.

“

”he told AFP.

In their judgment of July 6, the magistrates wrote that an extradition procedure had not "

" between the two States, he recalled. .

Ten years on the run

Before being arrested, Moufide Bouchibi had been on the run for more than ten years.

He was targeted by an international arrest warrant since he was sentenced, in his absence, in 2015 in Bordeaux, to 20 years in prison and a million euros fine.

He had entered into large-scale drug trafficking by associating in the early 2000s with an Alsatian, Sophiane Hambli, known as "

".

To read also: "War" against drug trafficking: the police are wondering

Sofiane Hambli, still wanted by the police, is known to have been a police informant at the heart of a resounding case which had highlighted the controversial practices of the former boss of the fight against drugs, François Thierry.