the essential
A 20-year-old man from Pau was arrested by police in Tarbes, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, on April 29 in possession of 500 grams of cannabis and 2,500 euros in cash. He appeared on May 2 before the Tarbes court.
The flair of the police officers of the Tarbes Anti-Crime Brigade paid off and made it possible to arrest a drug transporter. Tried in an immediate appearance hearing on May 2, this young 20-year-old from Pau, almost unknown to the courts, delivered a version of the facts which failed to convince the Tarbes court.
Intercepted on April 29 with 2,500 euros of cash in his glove box and 5 strips of cannabis resin under his seat, the young man was confused by his hazardous driving in the city center of Tarbes. “The police decided to check you because you turned right without putting on your indicator,” reported one of the magistrates.
False according to the Palois who tried, without success, to have the proceedings canceled for procedural defects via his lawyer Maxime Barnaba. “They stopped me because, according to one of them, I was driving too reclined in my seat. I had my indicator on. He made me get out of the car and searched it. When he found the money and the cannabis, he slapped me and shouted “do you take me for an idiot? “, before saying to his colleague “you see? I really felt that one.”
A funny acquaintance
If the young man initially denied having knowingly transported drugs from Pau to Tarbes, and tried to make the police believe that an acquaintance got into the car with him and forgot his merchandise in his car, he is finally returned to his initial statements.
“The messages found in his phone leave little room for doubt as to his involvement in trafficking,” declared the prosecutor before requesting 18 months in prison, including 6 months suspended and probation against him.
“Too heavy for someone never convicted by the courts,” according to the defendant’s lawyer, who pleaded for house detention. The Palois finally received 9 months in prison under an electronic bracelet, a ban on entering the Hautes-Pyrénées, a 2,000 euro fine, and the confiscation of his car and phone.
