2023-09-01 13:51:00
A tester, nannies, pilots, money laundering: the criminal organization in question this Friday at the Namur criminal court operated in Belgium, France and Spain. Only 4 of the 10 defendants appeared in court.
The facts took place between January and May 2021, in Belgium, France and Spain. The investigation began with observations made about a defendant who was storing cannabis. On January 6, a go fast took place in the Paris region during which 110 kilos of cannabis resin were transported in a car. According to the investigators, the illicit assets garnered within the framework of the file would amount to 800,000 euros. Namur was the hub of the thugs, the drugs and the vehicles used to deliver the drugs transited there.
The prosecution believes that 3 defendants led the criminal organization within which the roles were perfectly established: while one of the protagonists had the role of testing drugs, others had the role of driving cars, some renting them, …. Others were in charge of storing drugs. A final defendant was laundering the money through his company. It was by the tens of kilos that the drug was transported and then sorted by the nannies. One of the drivers of the go fast, who also played the role of nanny, explains: “I had a cannabis debt of several tens of thousands of euros towards the instigator of the traffic. He was pushing and I agreed to drive for him.
15 years in prison are required against the instigator of the traffic, already sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2022 for similar acts, and 10 years are against his two collaborators. A sentence of 5 years is claimed against a fourth defendant, 40 months are requested for the 6 others. 266,000 euros of confiscation per equivalent are also claimed against each of the 3 leaders.
Me Mayence, counsel for the only 3 leaders present in court on Friday, pleads a sentence accompanied by a suspended probation for what exceeds the preventive detention of 13 months already carried out. He believes that his client did not exercise the function of leader and participated during a reduced period of time compared to the period mentioned by the prosecution. Questioned by the court, the defendant explained: “I did not sell, I did not participate in the go fast. I knew what was going on. I was renting a garage. One evening at midnight, I received a call to deposit a 15 kg bag in a house under construction. I don’t even know all the other defendants, there was no criminal organization and I was not the leader of anything.
Judgment on October 6.
1693616023
#International #cannabis #trafficking #fast #kilos #cannabis #resin #trunk #estimated #illicit #asset #euros