Algerian Suspects Face Trial in Paris for Child Trafficking and Drug Crimes

The trial of seven Algerians will open on December 14 before the Paris Criminal Court and will continue until December 20. According to sources close to the case, six of them, aged 23 to 39, are accused of drug trafficking, psychotropics and receiving stolen goods, reports Le Courrier de l’Atlas. As for the seventh individual, he is accused of psychotropic drug trafficking and receiving stolen goods during the period from March to mid-June 2022. According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, their victims are 17 minors, aged between 8 and 16, who have fled Morocco and Algeria, and whose exploitation aims to create a dependence on them, in order to profit from their criminal activities.

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Under the influence of this criminal network, these minors would have been encouraged to consume psychotropics, including Rivotril and Lyrica, to commit thefts, particularly near the Eiffel Tower. According to the lawyer of the association Hors la Rue, which helps foreign children and adolescents in street situations, these minors are exposed to immediate risks of death or injury. "They told me to take that, that it would do me good... I took half a Rivotril pill and I kept going, going, going..." testified one of them, a Moroccan only ten years old.