Le Figaro Lyon
The suspicions are serious enough that police custody has been extended by 24 hours. A 32-year-old man was arrested Tuesday morning as part of the investigation into the death of an SNCF agent, on April 3, who died after drinking the contents of a screen-printed cubi of a brand of rum, but actually containing liquid cocaine, according to information from RMC confirmed to Le Figaro by the prosecutor's office of Saint-Etienne.
Originally from Suriname and domiciled in the Loire prefecture, he is suspected of links with Guyanese traffickers. The investigators have just seized at the suspect's home rum of the same Guyanese brand as that of the "bag in box", these flexible cubis, forgotten in a bag at the station of Chateaucreux last month. The thirty-year-old was identified by the judicial police of Saint-Étienne thanks to the exploitation of video surveillance tapes of the station. Clothes similar to those he was wearing on April 3 were found at his home.
Rapid poisoning
A decision of the prosecutor's office of Saint-Étienne is expected on Thursday, at the end of his custody. The public prosecutor, David Charmatz, had opened an investigation following the death of the 41-year-old SNCF agent. A death occurred only a few minutes after ingestion of the liquid contained in the cubi. Four agents had indeed wanted to taste what looked like rum, in their technical room at the end of the day. The liquid cocaine inside had caused the death by overdose of the first to taste the mixture, as confirmed by the autopsy. The concentration of the product was such that a second agent, who had just soaked his lips, was taken to the hospital, his mouth having been anesthetized by the mere contact of the substance.
