Le Figaro Marseille
"Hey ! Hello Brother! How are you ?"
In the room of the Marseille criminal court, the atmosphere is relaxed among the inmates.
The box dedicated to defendants has rarely been so full.
No fewer than eleven men take their seats, each escorted by a police officer.
Over the railing, during court adjournments, some address with a smile those who were once, according to the investigators, their work colleagues.
Until March 29, no less than 25 people appear before the Marseille courts, each suspected of being the link in a vast drug trafficking network in Oliviers A. The point of sale in this city in the northern districts of Marseille would have generated up to 50,000 euros per day in turnover.
Neither more nor less one of the most lucrative in the city.
On this first day of the trial, the president of the court tries to determine the life path of each of the defendants.
And among these 25 people, who are rather young, the vast majority already have a criminal record, some of which include offenses related to drug trafficking
.
“I'm accused of too many things,”
says Soihili M. On several occasions, his lawyer whispers a
“stop”
to order him to stop there.
But the one who is suspected of having been one of the field managers of the Oliviers A network continues.
“
I am accused in another international trafficking case but I have not left Marseille!
(sic) »
At his side, the supposed lieutenant of this drug trafficking was convicted for the first time at the age of 16 for theft and implicated in several cases of criminal associations.
“I worked illegally but it wasn’t declared
,” he explains.
Many also left school very early, like Medhi A., who appears detained for another case.
In court, the young man suspected of being one of the network's packagers explains that he only has a college certificate.
“I worked for two months at the time of my incarceration, on a permanent contract, but I did not have time to finish my trial period when the company closed,”
he continues
.
Afterwards, I worked as a salesman in a store and it closed.”
Drug user
A chaotic journey like other defendants alongside him, who, in addition to selling, are almost all drug users.
“I am single, without children and without a home
,” says Fethi B., designated by investigators as one of the managers.
Asked about his drug addiction, Fethi B. confides in a low voice:
“It is episodic.
It depends on the moment.
As I have no more visitors in prison at the moment, I use.”
Several women sit on the dock, whether they are accused of being nannies, or of having participated in drug trafficking, as the companion of one of the members of the network.
One of them, suspected of having stored drugs in her apartment on behalf of the managers of Oliviers A, was ordered by the courts to leave Marseille to keep her away from this environment.
In vain.
Annoyed, the president of the court explains that this woman was worried in a drug trafficking case in the Paris region.
“
I had financial problems
,” explains this mother.
And in fact, they knew the journey I had taken... So it was easy to approach me at that time.
»
Among those summoned, two were missing on this first day of the trial.
Well, three exactly: suspected of having been employed by the Oliviers A network to put drugs in small plastic bags, a young man indicted in this case died in a settling of scores in March 2022. Shot dead during of a shooting in the 15th arrondissement, he was only 22 years old.