The retired couple allegedly transported fifteen tons of cannabis during dozens of trips over a year. The trial of a vast trafficking operation, estimated at 110 million euros, opened on Monday in Bordeaux.
Sixteen defendants, including three prisoners, appeared for a week before the criminal court for “importing, acquiring, transporting, possessing, offering or transferring narcotics, participating in a criminal association, in addition to customs offences.”
A hiding place set up in their vehicle
The investigation began with the arrest in the summer of 2020 of this retired couple who were acting as “mules” by smuggling drugs from Spain to Bordeaux, using a hiding place set up in their vehicle, according to the police. Six other people were arrested during this first raid and 450,000 euros in cash were discovered.
In May 2021, a second operation led to the arrest of several other suspects in the Bordeaux region, with the police seizing another 950 kg of cannabis resin and nearly 200,000 euros. By following the thread, investigators finally identified the heads of the alleged network operating in Lyon.
A network that supplied several cities
The police had then dismantled the network in the Lyon region, presented at the time as “national in scope”, supplying drugs to several large cities, Bordeaux and Lyon at the very least. Eight men aged 25 to 35 had been indicted and imprisoned in this investigation led by the Interregional Specialised Jurisdiction (Jirs) of Bordeaux.
Nearly 600 kg of cannabis resin, 40 kg of grass and 5 kg of cocaine, several weapons including two assault rifles, 170,000 euros in cash and various luxury products, including Rolex watches, were seized.
The investigation continues for the “Lyon and Swiss sections”
Other drug imports were reportedly made from Morocco via heavy goods vehicles whose cargo was collected and distributed in Bordeaux.
“The size of the network, the number of protagonists and the ramifications that have been brought to light have made it necessary to partially postpone the case,” a judicial source stressed: the court is judging the Bordeaux side of the organisation this week, while the investigation is continuing for “the Lyon and Swiss sides”.
