He is the son of bakers, bears the croquignolet nickname of “Tajine” but it is anything but “demi-sel”. Samir I., 30, is appearing from this Wednesday at the Nanterre court for two major drug cases. While he was targeted by an international arrest warrant since June 2015, this Moroccan who grew up in Puteaux (Hauts-de-Seine) had disappeared from radar until the National Fugitive Search Brigade located him on the Costa del Sol in Spain. He was living there, it seems, under several identities before the Spanish police, at the request of the French authorities, arrested him last February.
In theory, eight years in prison await him.
Two four-year sentences for importing narcotics.
But not surprisingly, back in the country, he asked to be retried as the law allows.
The first case had hit the headlines.
"Tajine" was part of a team of traffickers who brought drugs up by hundreds of kilos from Morocco via Spain, in go fast.
"There is no doubt about his participation in the torpedo operation"
The originality is that they had also tried, in April 2014, to import cocaine from the West Indies by sea, in particular by hiding the powder in a "torpedo" fixed under a cargo ship.
Divers had even been recruited to fix and recover the product.
The boss of this very structured network, "James de Puteaux", had been sentenced to ten years on appeal.
For "Tajine", "his participation in the torpedo operation is beyond doubt," the court said. One of the Polish divers had also blamed him for another blow: the recovery in Malaga (Spain) of a fishing net filled with cocaine in October 2014. According to him, Samir I. had welcomed and transported the divers to the West Indies .
The other case for which he is being tried again is less unusual but just as much smacks of organized crime.
“Tajine” is accused of having been part of a network of traffickers, at least one of whom was involved in the torpedo operation, which had organized 24 go-fast between December 2014 and November 2015. “Several tons” of cannabis had undoubtedly been transported from Spain to the Paris region.
The sponsor came from Morocco and directly piloted the operations.
In this organization, according to the magistrates, "Tajine" was again a lieutenant.
"This affair is just a storm in a glass of water"
According to the court, he had been involved in three go-fast, in particular as a driver. In December 2014 and January 2015, he was identified on CCTV footage. During one of these convoys, the police managed to seize more than 700 kilograms of cannabis. In May 2015, his DNA was found on the cigarette lighter of a Skoda and on a bottle found in the car. A vehicle where there was this time more than 800 kilos of resin. The court had underlined his “old and constant anchoring in delinquency” before sentencing him to four years in prison for this case.
Contacted, his lawyer Saïd Harir recalls that his client is "first-time offender" and that his "criminal record is devoid of any conviction for drugs". “Tajine” has in fact three mentions, all for acts of violence and not for drug-related offenses. "This case is basically a storm in a glass of water," said the defender of Samir I. "He was tried by default without knowing that he was implicated in these cases. I will do everything to ensure that it regains freedom as quickly as possible ”. The “Tajine” trial ends Thursday.
