BFM Alsace found the trace of Yacine G., the young boy accused by the then presidential candidate of attempted theft. Now in his thirties, he is serving a prison sentence for drug trafficking.
“You don’t pick my pockets,” lectures François Bayrou. It is April 9, 2002 and today’s Prime Minister is strolling in the Meinau district of Strasbourg. He was then a Union for French Democracy (UDF) presidential candidate and had to take part in a meeting.
Before that, the person concerned interacts with residents, surrounded by children. When suddenly, François Bayrou slaps a child on the cheek, whom he accuses of attempted theft. The moment made the rounds on television news the same evening, to the great dismay of his team, frozen by the sequence.
Finally, as evidenced by his rise to Matignon more than 20 years later, the Béarnais will not suffer from the sequence. The young boy will inherit the nickname “Bayrou” in his neighborhood.
This week, BFM Alsace traced the man who was only 11 years old at the time. His name is Yacine G. and is today incarcerated for trafficking heroin and cocaine.
Cascading convictions
His first legal concerns went back well before. In 2012, the young man already had six convictions on his criminal record when he received a four-month prison sentence for acts of contempt and violence against police officers.
Our DNA colleagues describe a case of arrest on the public highway which escalates in the Meinau district.
Until then, most of the sentences against him have been handed down by the juvenile court, particularly for contempt.
On the run for several years
In 2020, the name of Yacine G. resurfaced in a drug trafficking case between the Netherlands and Strasbourg. In this case, cocaine and heroin distributed for two years in the districts of the Alsatian capital.
The police were informed of the facts by an anonymous report. The investigation began and led, two months later, to a police operation: 8 kilos of heroin and 1 kilo of cocaine were seized.
Several people are arrested, but not Yacine G. The alleged order giver – an accusation he refutes – manages to flee.
Sentenced to ten years in prison
Yacine G. was finally arrested in 2021, he who had already been on the run for several years to escape a conviction for drug trafficking.
To sell off its stocks, the Strasbourg resident used the Signal mobile application. In a DNA report, we learn that he was known there under the pseudonym “Sam Sam”.
The trial takes place in 2022. The ex-boy from Meinau is sentenced to ten years in prison, as well as a fine of 10,000 euros.
