Since Wednesday, the Marseille criminal court has been scrutinizing the operation of the city's drug trafficking network between 2016 and 2018, where one of the deal points was run by a couple who headed a very structured network.
Le Figaro Marseille
The two teenagers are very alone on the deserted benches intended for the public in the huge, extraordinary trial room. If they are present in this court this Wednesday morning, it is somewhat at the request of their mother, Virginie G. At the bar of the seventh chamber of the criminal court of Marseille, impeccably made-up, the thirty-year-old speaks of a little voice, dressed in an elegant black suit. With a slight Marseille accent, she explains that she wanted to be accompanied by her daughters so that they “understand the error” which she had made almost ten years earlier. “When you're in love with a boy, you can get there. And I hope that it will help them for their future”she says.
Today, Virginie G. is an employee in a supermarket in the morning and a waitress in a bar in the northern districts of Marseille in the afternoon. Between 2016 and 2018, his life was very different. “It was another Virginia”she confides in tears. A life of which, she assures him, he has nothing left, and which has earned him the appearance in court. She was then nicknamed «Minette»owned several luxury watches and rented apartments in the surroundings of Marseille with false papers and under a false identity. “We changed so many places…”she remembers. At the time, «Minette» is the mistress of a childhood friend, Boumédiene M., even though she has just divorced the father of her daughters. If she “move” with his companion from one address to another, it is at his request, “so that we can take refuge from time to time”. “We were wanted, she confides. “It was so he wouldn’t get arrested.”
Born in 1985, Boumédiene M. had been the subject of an arrest warrant since 2011. He had been sentenced in his absence to seven years in prison for drug trafficking, death threats, kidnapping, criminal conspiracy and violence. aggravated. A sentence which did not slow down the Marseillais in his illicit activities. According to investigators, between 2016 and 2018, Boumédiene M. took charge of one of the drug trafficking sales points in the city of La Paternelle, in 14e district of Marseille.
«Go fast»
This city in the northern districts has been in the news in recent years for being the scene of violent turf wars between the DZ Mafia and the Yoda clan. But, before this vendetta, one of the points of sale was run – according to investigators – by this repeat drug trafficking offender. “At the time, we already had quite colossal turnover figures, recalls the president of the seventh chamber of the Marseille criminal court, Christel Estienne-Garcia. It's not crazy to talk about 80,000 euros per day…”
Nicknamed in the industry “Tonton du Bled”, «Flynx» or even «Max»Boumédiene M. had usurped the identity of another man in civilian life to continue his activities. According to investigators, his deal point at La Paternelle, very close to a highway ramp, is then open day and night. During the day, it is managed according to the accusation by the brother of «Minette»Michelangelo G., nicknamed according to investigators «Mimi» or even «Tchoutchou». With him, and other of his lieutenants, «Flynx» goes to Spain several times for not really discreet “go fast” trips. In Audis or Porsches rented for the occasion, in the middle of the night at 200 km/h, these drug traffickers are suspected of transporting the goods directly from the Iberian Peninsula to Bouches-du-Rhône.
In his illegal business, «Flynx» could count on the support of his mistress «Baby». It is she who rents a nanny apartment in Salon-de-Provence under a false identity. Drugs were regularly transported from this accommodation to the La Paternelle point of sale, in particular cocaine, the specialty of this point of sale, packaged in small colored pills. During a search, investigators found a Kalashnikov, an automatic pistol, 1.5 kilos of cocaine, 20 kilos of cannabis resin and packaging equipment in this apartment.
On the stand, as if petrified, nervously touching her long hair, Virginie G. struggles to answer the court's questions. When the president questions her about the network's organization chart, Virginie G. remains silent, taken aback. “Is your speech free today?”asks his lawyer, Me Stephanie Keita. “No. It’s complicated.” Behind her back, the other defendants stare at her.
Grip
“I was doing it under the instructions of Boumédiene”she repeats tirelessly. Questioned at length by the president of the court, Christel Estienne-Garcia, Virginie G. ended up admitting with lip service to having become a co-manager of the drug trafficking network, through “emotional influence”. When he is incarcerated in another case, «Baby» even takes over from her companion in their illicit business with – she admits – a certain autonomy in this management. The young woman supervises, gives instructions, supplies the point of sale and collects the money. She regularly informs «Flynx». The inmate, with whom she communicates constantly, obtained a telephone through his relatives.
“I didn't even realize, she says on the verge of tears. I didn't see the danger. I did this for him. I knew very well that what I was doing was wrong. But I told myself that nothing was going to happen to me because I was with him.” “At that time, you did not see your daughters and you prioritized drug trafficking over your daughters!”is indignant the public prosecutor, Sophie Bot. Virginie G. lowers her head, ashamed. On the public bench, behind her, her daughters sob silently.
In this case, Virginie G. was placed in pre-trial detention for two years. She is called to appear until November 22. Fifteen other defendants were supposed to go to the criminal court but only six of them responded to the call. Before the court, some defense lawyers even explained that they had not heard from their clients for several years. Among those absent at the opening of the debates is the famous Boumédiene M., at the head of this prolific network. But at the end of the day, his lawyer informed a fairly annoyed court that «Flynx» had finally decided to appear in court this Thursday morning.
