Serial arrests around international drug trafficking. Nine people were arrested in the Hauts-de-France, and more than half a ton of cannabis seized, in two operations against drug networks imported from Spain, it was learned, this Friday.
The first operation, carried out by the branch of the Anti-Narcotics Office (OFAST) of the Lille judicial police, in cooperation with the Catalan police, led to the arrest of five people between late February and early March. Four had just recovered two pallets of 100 kg of cannabis herb, the fifth was arrested at his home in Wimereux, Pas-de-Calais.
Unjustified lifestyle
Four of them were indicted in Lille, the fifth, suspected of being the organizer of the network, being placed under extradition imprisonment under a European arrest warrant issued by the Spanish justice, said a source. According to the same source, a simultaneous operation in Spain led to the arrest of ten suspects, and the dismantling of six indoor cannabis plantations.
The investigation began in September 2022, based on information from the Catalan police about cannabis trafficking, transported from Spain by truck to Hauts-de-France. Four trafficking suspects, including a couple, were also arrested on March 13 by the judicial police of Amiens, in the Somme, assisted by colleagues from Creil, in the Oise, for imports of cannabis resin from southern Spain to the France.
The operation at the couple's home resulted in the seizure of nearly 480 kg of weed and cannabis resin, and highlighted a lifestyle not justified by the suspects' income. Two of those arrested were indicted, the others to be presented later in the day before an investigating judge, according to the same source.
War weapons and bulletproof vests were also discovered during the operation, launched as part of an investigation opened in August 2021.
- Miscellaneous facts Lille
- Miscellaneous facts
- Drug
- Drug trafficking
- Arrest
- Criminal investigation department
- Lille
- Hauts-de-France
- Spain