A man was arrested on Monday, June 24, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. He is being questioned, along with several other suspects, as part of an investigation into drug trafficking.
It is “a very big fish” that the investigators of the Parisian judicial police have just caught in their net. A man, presented as “a major criminal”, was arrested this Monday, June 24, late in the afternoon, in a business located in the 16th arrondissement in Paris, BFMTV learned from police sources and close to the case.
Already convicted around fifteen times, notably for acts of fraud, theft, violence, drug trafficking and illegal possession of weapons, Olivier S., nicknamed “Paulo” and aged 41, was found in possession of ‘a handgun. He was placed in police custody in the premises of the narcotics brigade of the Paris judicial police.
This Wednesday, June 26, his hearing was still in progress. When contacted, his lawyer did not respond.
Strong links between suspects
This arrest comes as part of an investigation into “drug trafficking” and several other suspects are currently being questioned in police custody.
Among the other people placed in police custody are the partner of Olivier S., but also the wife and daughter of Hakim B., a drug trafficking kingpin in Marseille and its region. Nicknamed “Marcassin” or “Big pants”, Hakim B., 44, originally from the city of Flamants, located in the 14th arrondissement of Marseille, was arrested in Dubai in February 2021, before being extradited to the France where he was indicted and then placed in pre-trial detention.
Investigators from the narcotics brigade, supported by their colleagues from the financial research and investigation brigade (BRIF), seem to have established solid links between the different suspects, as well as the outlines of the money laundering circuits resulting from drug trafficking.
These investigations are carried out within the framework of a letter rogatory issued by an investigating judge of the specialized interregional jurisdiction (Jirs) of Paris.
A sumptuous lifestyle
Coming from the Parisian business world, “Paulo” is an “old acquaintance” of the police and the justice system. Indicted in the summer of 2019, then placed in pre-trial detention in a case of importing cocaine between Paris and Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), the search of his home had brought to light a lavish lifestyle, out of line with his income.
In its 200 square meters, located in the Parisian golden triangle, police officers from the Anti-Narcotics Office (OFAST) and the judicial police of Versailles (Yvelines) had got their hands on 21,000 euros in cash, several works of art, an AR 15 assault rifle, a 9 mm caliber PK 380 semi-automatic pistol, around ten encrypted cell phones, a satellite phone and a Richard Mille watch, McLaren model, worth 197,000 euros. This case is still under investigation in Marseille.
Olivier S. was also sentenced to four years in prison, in October 2019, before the Paris judicial court in connection with a case of importing cocaine from Peru, called “Argentinian Tango”.
Arrested for illegal possession of a weapon
His name was also cited in one of the largest drug seizures at a Paris train station. In January 2022, Pascal C., 45, was arrested by customs agents on a platform at Lyon station, while he was transporting a suitcase containing more than 58kg of cocaine to Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône).
Described as “a simple mule”, Pascal C. had been imprisoned before being sentenced to five years in prison in this case in which he had revealed neither the name of his sponsor nor that of the recipient of this cocaine.
“Paulo” was then arrested, on November 16, 2023, in the middle of the afternoon, avenue Montaigne in the 8th arrondissement, by police officers on patrol, alerted by his “nervous” behavior. They found on him a Glock 26 model semi-automatic pistol as well as a magazine, loaded with seven 9mm Luger caliber ammunition, even though he did not have a gun license, and three telephones.
The exploitation of these smartphones had revealed the presence of research files, from confidential police files, concerning two members of organized crime, including a Marseillais. During this check, officials also seized nearly 2,000 euros in cash from him.
Unemployed, he argued, in police custody, that he had acquired this Glock 26 to ensure his “safety”. For the illegal possession of this weapon, he had been the subject of a prior admission of guilt, – pleading guilty -, and had received a sentence of one year in prison, carried out in the form of ‘house arrest with an electronic bracelet.
A man killed “by mistake”
He had explained in particular that he had bought this Glock 26 in the suburbs of Paris after having been the target of an attempted kidnapping, on the evening of May 19, 2023, near Saint-Mandé (Val-de-Marne). He had also claimed to have seen a stranger, his face hidden under a black helmet, get out of a utility vehicle and quickly head towards him with a weapon in his hand.
He then took refuge with a relative, a professional real estate agent, whom he presented as his “little brother” with whom he had spent several nights. The latter, Ruben Azoulay, 31, was shot dead on May 24, 2023, on Boulevard de Courcelles, by a helmeted man, armed with a Skorpion VZ61 submachine gun and a Colt 1911 model handgun, caliber 45.
On June 1, 2023, Olivier S. went to the premises of the criminal brigade, in charge of the investigation into this assassination, to indicate that he was the real target of this murder and that Ruben Azoulay had been killed “by mistake”.
In this murder case, three men, including two from Marseille, suspected of having taken part in the events, were indicted in April before being placed in pre-trial detention.
Stéphane Sellami and Solenne Bertrand
