Operation Clear Place in the Dax agglomeration, from Tuesday May 28 in the morning: this police intervention resulted in nine men and two women being tried for their participation in drug trafficking, four minors being summoned to court for children. But, these arrests owe nothing to chance, as the president of the judicial court, Laure Vuitton, reminds us at the start of their trial on Thursday June 20, 2024.
It all started on September 5, with “the discovery of a bag containing 127 grams of cocaine and 23 grams of cannabis herb”, in the parking lot of the Lysandra residence in Saint-Paul-lès-Dax. Two DNAs found on the bag allowed investigators to identify individuals known to the justice system, while the arrest of a third man, for violence, gave a boost to the investigations in November.
In addition to “2.5 kilos of cannabis resin”, seized during the search of the cellar of his Saint-Paul home, in the La Pince district, “a red notebook with names” served the interests of the police. Surveillance, telephone tapping, information and interviews with consumers then made it possible to determine the extent of trafficking of this drug.
Instant messaging
“Everyone sold everything: coke, shit, weed”, underlines Laure Vuitton in the investigation of the file. Purchased in Pau, Bayonne, Bordeaux and Toulouse, the drugs were offered for sale on Telegram instant messaging distribution channels.
“We knew this thing was going to blow up. But I can’t say anything. What happens in La Pince stays in La Pince,” dares one of those involved. Aged 18 to 23, most of the defendants have difficulty justifying their involvement in this criminal trade. Some admit the use, such as someone who “sells to pay for (his) consumption”. Another, out of love, agreed to store cocaine and cannabis in her apartment. Accused of having laundered the money generated by this trafficking, the manager of a bar born in 1986 and his cousin assure that they “have nothing to do with all of this”.
“Everyone was selling everything: coke, shit, weed. »
“You have before you the different levels of drug trafficking, even if one person is missing for the team to be complete,” says the public prosecutor, Benoît Fontaine. The requisitions, given by a second magistrate placed at the Public Prosecutor’s Office, specify the role played by each party, proposing sentences of several years in prison for some.
Lacunar
In defense, the lawyers criticize the “incomplete investigation” led by the Dacquois prosecutor’s office and the choice to organize this hearing as soon as possible, in a “publicity stunt”. For Me Katy Mira, “the impression that everything has been done to ensure that there is something in this file” is strong. “We are being told about the case of the year… But we are not appointing an investigating judge! »
“We wanted to clear the air without opening a judicial investigation,” supports Me Élise Rocher. Last to plead, after eleven hours of hearing, she speaks of a “procedural scandal”. As if these repeated attacks had finally hit the mark, the sentences awarded are reduced compared to the requisitions.
The cousins are thus released and their money returned. Some electronic bracelets allow defendants to avoid incarceration for six or twelve months, provided they respect their probation period and no longer come into contact with each other. Two of the defendants remain in detention. Ilyasse Sbaa is sentenced to three years in prison, two of which are suspended for two years. Summoned today to take the baccalaureate and described as “head of the network”, Alexandre Thomas will serve a four-year prison sentence, including one year suspended.
