Le Figaro Marseille
The video of his arrest made the rounds on social networks.
Jean-Anthony Blas, a drug trafficker from Marseille and member of the so-called
“afternoon”
clan , was arrested by the Spanish authorities on February 15.
This dangerous character,
“one of the most wanted fugitives in France”
, was intercepted at the end of a hunt lasting several months carried out jointly by the French and Spanish authorities.
The man had been wanted for almost a year by the police for drug trafficking and possession of illegal firearms.
Born in 1990 and with a long criminal record, he was notably known to the courts for a ten-year prison sentence in France for offenses of
“drug trafficking, illegal possession of weapons, crimes against 'order and public security and membership in an organized criminal gang'
, as reported by the Spanish authorities.
According to several police sources, Jean-Anthony Blas and his brother belonged to a vast drug resale network established in the heart of Campagne-Lévêque, in the northern districts of the Marseille city.
The two brothers imported significant quantities of cannabis from Spain, the favorite playground of drug traffickers and other Marseille criminals whom they often choose to
“go green”
.
It was there that Blas, under a false identity, was arrested by the Spanish police while he was in a bar in Salou, a Catalan seaside resort.
They are criminals ready to do anything to escape the authorities.
They had to fall on them quickly, otherwise they could flee.
Rudy Manna, national spokesperson for the Alliance Police union
“The judicial police were behind him. “He’s a very well-known guy, who wasn’t afraid to employ teams wielding weapons of war
,” confirms Rudy Manna, national spokesperson for the Alliance Police union, to Le
Figaro
.
“Its network supplied a large point of sale in Marseille.
Very large quantities of narcotics were seized there
,” he continues, referring to the Campagne-Lévêque city.
As reported to Le
Figaro
by a very well-informed source, it is however this city in the 15th arrondissement of Marseille which will sound the death knell for the trafficker and the eminent members of his
“afternoon”
clan in March 2023, when a
“vast operation”
carried out by the Bouches-du-Rhône police force led the French authorities to launch a pursuit.
While he fled, the drug trafficker received a European arrest warrant issued by an investigating judge as part of an investigation opened for acts of
"drug trafficking"
,
"violation of the arms legislation”
and
“money laundering”
.
The investigations, entrusted to the fugitive group of the Brigade for the Repression of Banditry (BRB) of the interdepartmental judicial police service of Bouches-du-Rhône (SIPJ 13), were quickly directed towards the relatives of the trafficker, who would have used multiple identities to hide his background from the French authorities.
One of his loyal
“lieutenants”
was thus identified and discreetly followed by investigators from the BRB and the BRI (Research and Intervention Brigade).
“They are criminals ready to do anything to escape the authorities.
“We had to get on them quickly, otherwise they could flee
,” explains Rudy Manna.
19th Marseille drug trafficker on the run arrested by the police since February 2021
This
“lieutenant”
will lead the French authorities, assisted by the Spanish police, straight towards Jean-Anthony Blas.
On February 14, the henchman was spotted crossing the Spanish border towards Salou, in the province of Tarragona.
After spending the night in an apartment hotel in the seaside resort, he came out of his rental in the company of Blas,
“formally recognized”
by the French investigators, who gave the
“go”
to the Spanish police to proceed with his arrest .
The fugitive was finally handed over to French authorities last Sunday, when the announcement of his capture was made official.
According to a police source, Jean-Anthony Blas is the 19th major member of Marseille narco-banditry to be arrested while on the run on French territory or on foreign territory since February 2021.
The conduct of this breathtaking and nearly year-long hunt owes much to the international cooperation established between the French and Spanish authorities, launched hand in hand to intercept the Marseille trafficker.
“This proves that it is very important for the French police to work in close cooperation with foreign authorities.
“We must underline the remarkable work carried out by the justice system with Spain on this case, which led to the arrest of a dangerous individual
,” underlines Rudy Manna.
A work which is reminiscent of the hunt for DZ Mafia killers, also spotted in Salou and whose team was apprehended last January.
The prosecutor's office of the specialized interregional jurisdiction (JIRS) of Marseille, seized of the case, had authorized the creation of a Franco-Spanish investigation team.
This led to the dismantling of a commando suspected of having assassinated two eminent members of the rival clan of the DZ Mafia, the Yoda gang.