Drug Mules’ Downfall: Retiree and Ex-Con Busted in Cross-Border Cannabis Scheme

It all started with a strange discovery in the trunk of a vehicle reported to the police by a car rental agency on December 5, 2023: a sports bag containing 25 kg of cannabis resin. This discovery led to the opening of a police investigation. The geolocation of the Renault Clio provided information on the itinerary: from Malaga in Spain, a major hub for the importation of cannabis resin via the Kingdom of Morocco. The telephone analysis led to Amar K. and his accomplice Naour Addine. The two men were arrested after a second trip where an additional 4 kg were intercepted.

Amar and Naour are known to the courts. The former was the head of a cocaine importation network from Colombia. From 2006 onwards, he began to have legal troubles. In 2012, the Paris Assize Court sentenced him to 20 years in prison. At the end of his sentence, he settled in Poland. He spent a few months there before returning to the Paris region. At the beginning of the winter of 2023, the old man fell back into the rut. He now plays a subordinate role. The second one served 16 months in preventive detention before being placed under judicial supervision last July. He has already been prosecuted 15 times. In 2016, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison for drug trafficking.

The two men appeared before the Évry criminal court for having imported more than 20 kg of cannabis resin from Spain. At the bar, Amar K. did not deny his involvement, as he had during his custody. "I no longer had any money to pay for a birthday present for my little girl," he said by way of explanation, to the dubious gaze of the court. He explained that he had an early morning appointment on December 5th to hand over the cargo. "But my sponsors were late. I settled in a café in Ermont waiting for them. I couldn’t reach them. When I went back to the car, it was gone. The rental agency had come to pick it up because the payments hadn’t been made. That’s where it all started," added the septuagenarian.

Naour also admitted the facts. "I was supposed to get 1,500 euros for being the opener," he detailed. For the Public Prosecutor, the two men behaved like 14-year-old teenagers in need. He added: "You embarked on a miserable enterprise and you got caught like beginners." After the requisitions, the court rendered its verdict. Amar K. was sentenced to 3 years in prison, while his accomplice was sentenced to 2 years in prison. "He will serve the remainder of his sentence under electronic surveillance," Actu.fr reported.