Drug trafficking in Alençon: the alleged manager was barely an adult

Sixteen people, aged 19 to 43, are on trial by the Alençon criminal court, until Thursday June 27, for their alleged involvement in vast drug trafficking, in Alençon (Orne). This took place in a building in the Perseigne district, at 31 rue Anatole-France, right next to the Sainte-Thérèse church.

A deal point open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

According to a witness, the deal point was open every day from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., with two lookouts, a salesman – “always the same” – who navigated between the fourth and fifth floors and supplies guaranteed during the day. There we found heroin, cannabis, cocaine and even crack. On the second floor, inscriptions on the walls indicated the prices in plain sight, “almost like an advertising billboard”.

Before the judges, different links in the “chain” are prosecuted: sellersand ” to cook “ who manufactured the crack, with residents serving as “nannies” or some accomplices, responsible for carrying out “missions” such as deliveries a few hundred kilometers away. Then, one considered to be the ” manager “. The young man, just an adult at the time of the events, was arrested in July 2023, after several months of investigation.

Several months of investigation

The starting point ? An anti-drug operation, carried out on October 4, 2022 and concluded with three arrests. Drugs, counterfeit notes and inventory documents mentioning several kilograms of narcotics were found in a cellar and two apartments in the tower.

But the two tenants claim that these seizures are not theirs: one says she lent the key to her cellar to a neighbor, the other was hosting someone to whom, according to her, these belongings belonged. “I saw him getting hit in the building. I trusted him too easily,” she said.

This first operation launched the “investigations which made it possible to make new discoveries”, underlined Éric Martin, president of the hearing. The investigation spanned several months. Between the different hearings and investigations, it made it possible to identify new actors and to pull the thread back to the top.

Another episode, which occurred on March 12, 2023, also brought its share of information. At the beginning of the evening, the police intervened once again in this building. When they arrived, a man (the only defendant absent at the hearing) with a bag containing 150 grams of narcotics, took refuge in an apartment. Housing which a priori served as retreat hideout.

An alleged manager identified

The head of the network completely denies being involved in any traffic. Regular trips to the four corners of France? ” Holidays. » The two transfers of €1,500 made on the same day when he has no resources? “I was lent money, it was for a business creation project. » The three simultaneous telephone lines in his name? “The three don’t belong to me. »

Some of his messages and calls suggest trafficking and regular customers formally identify him. Just like another defendant, aged 43, designated as the cook. He made crack, between 10 and 30 grams per day, and supplied the building with it. A gram was resold 70 €.

A consumer himself, he says he was paid in kind and forced by the manager. “I could almost be his father but he has a lot of people behind him. He threatened me in every way. My mother and my wife lived in the neighborhood. »

The judgment will continue tomorrow, Tuesday June 25, with the end of the investigation of the facts and the personality of the sixteen defendants. Wednesday must begin with the prosecutor’s submissions before the lawyers’ pleadings. The deliberation is expected for Thursday June 27.

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