Six people, including a woman, were indicted and imprisoned for drug trafficking in Bédarieux, near Béziers, in Hérault.
A long-term investigation and numerous investigations carried out since autumn 2023 have brought to light drug trafficking in Bédarieux, a village in the Hauts-cantons of Hérault, near Béziers.
The initial evidence gathered led the Béziers public prosecutor’s office to refer the matter to an investigating magistrate on 30 November 2023, which confirmed the existence of significant trafficking within a structured network supplying narcotics to the villages of Poujol-sur-Orb in Bousquet-d’Orb, via Lamalou les Bains, Hérépian and Bédarieux.
Between 27 and 28 June 2024, at the end of their police custody, five men and one woman were indicted by an investigating magistrate of the Béziers judicial court, for their participation in drug trafficking established in the Bédarieux region, near Béziers. They were all placed in provisional detention by the judge of liberties and detention.
They were arrested on June 25, 2024, as part of a vast judicial police operation that mobilized 160 gendarmerie soldiers., under the authority of the investigating magistrate.
9.9 kg of cannabis resin, 5.3 kg of herbal cannabis, 285 g of cocaine, 30 g of MDMA, 80 g of ketamine, 55 LSD blotters, 150 ecstasy tablets, 57 g of heroin, and 27 plants of cannabis were found during the searches.
Gendarmerie investigators also seized 8,585 euros, 11 telephones, 13 electronic scales, packaging equipment, five weapons (four rifles and an 8 mm pistol) and an Audi S3 vehicle. Three stolen vehicles were also found.
22 people appearing as users were identified and interviewed. The Béziers public prosecutor’s office will rule on their fate in the coming days. They face 1 year of imprisonment and a fine of €3,750.
The judicial investigation is continuing, at the end of which the investigating magistrate will decide whether the evidence gathered will allow the persons charged to be tried by the criminal court in the coming months. They risk up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 7.5 million euros.
