A man presented as a member of the Corsican criminal gang known as "
Africans
" was indicted on Friday for the attempted arson of a restaurant in Centuri (Haute-Corse), AFP learned on Saturday from the prosecutor's office. the specialized interregional jurisdiction (JIRS) of Marseille.
The 22-year-old suspect, who denies being the perpetrator of the facts, which occurred in July 2020, was released under judicial supervision.
He is being prosecuted on the counts of “
attempted destruction by fire in an organized gang and association of criminals with a view to committing a crime
”, specified the prosecution of the JIRS, which specializes in cases related to organized crime.
One or more individuals had attempted to set fire to the establishment with gasoline.
The criminal(s) would have been put to flight by people present at the scene at the time.
A few hours later, a car was found burned in the town.
25 criminal gangs across the Isle of Beauty
Contrary to the information gathered during the arrest of this man, at the end of December, in Sagone (Corse-du-Sud), the beach restaurant targeted by this arson attempt is not the Kanteen Beach, burnt down in Borgo in June 2018, but a Centuri establishment referred to him in the summer of 2020.
According to a judicial source, the young man's DNA was found on the premises of the establishment.
Contacted by AFP, his lawyer did not wish to speak.
In a police document consulted by AFP, which lists 25 criminal gangs across the Isle of Beauty, this man, already convicted of throwing Molotov cocktails when he was a minor, is presented as being a member of the so-called Africans”, whose presumed leader is Jean-Luc Codaccioni.
These 25 criminal gangs were mentioned in July by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, during a visit to Bastia during which he announced a "strengthening of judicial means" against organized crime in Corsica.
In early December, Jean-Luc Codaccioni was sentenced in immediate appearance to three years in prison with continued detention for transport and possession of weapons by the Bastia criminal court.
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He had been arrested with another man in possession of two loaded Glock 26 pistols, a semi-automatic rifle, a carbine, two stacked shotguns and approximately 1,000 cartridges, all ammunition combined, but also a clay pigeon shooting machine.
At the helm, the two men had maintained that they were going to a ball-trap session organized with friends on private land.
