Three people were imprisoned and five placed under judicial supervision in June as part of an investigation opened in 2023 in Saint-Étienne into arms trafficking that survivalists in particular were seeking to obtain, we learned on Wednesday from concordant sources.
The investigation began in early 2023 based on information relating to a weapons acquisition project by a suspected group of conspiratorial survivalists, monitored by the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), according to the Saint-Étienne prosecutor’s office, confirming information from the regional daily. Progress.
Weapons of war, ammunition and explosives
Access to past conversations via encrypted messaging allowed investigators to identify several suspected arms traffickers as well as some of their clients, a source close to the investigation explained to AFP. Searches resulted in the seizure of a large quantity of war weapons (assault rifles and submachine guns), handguns, ammunition and explosives, the source said.
“Eight individuals, including suspected arms traffickers, were taken into custody on June 3 in the Loire and neighboring departments,” the prosecution said. “Three were placed in provisional detention, the others under judicial supervision, as part of an investigation entrusted to the Anti-Terrorist Sub-Directorate (SDAT) of the judicial police”he added, without indicating whether members of the alleged group of conspiratorial survivalists were among the eight suspects.
A man in his fifties, a suspected arms trafficker, is described to AFP by his lawyer, David Metaxas, as “a notable from Saint-Etienne who has a good reputation, without a criminal record” et “who allowed himself to be drawn into this illicit activity out of a passion for weapons.”
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