Elected Officials Questioned in Major Morocco-France Drug Trafficking Bust

The socialist mayor of Canteleu, Mélanie Boulanger, was arrested and held for questioning as part of this drug trafficking case, before being released, without charge and without prosecution. Her deputy, Hasbi Colak, in charge of economic development, trade and employment, was also questioned by the police who are trying to understand the nature of their relations with the M. family, very active in large-scale drug trafficking and suspected of collaborating with local political actors.

"The wiretaps show that the mayor of Canteleu was in regular contact with the main suspects," says a judicial source at France Bleu Normandie, specifying that this operation has "probably decapitated the most important network of traffickers in the Rouen region, at the source of 75% of the supply of the Norman metropolis in drugs".

Established in Canteleu for decades, this family operates from Morocco where they import various drugs (cannabis, cocaine and heroin) via Spain. "This very structured and very powerful network in Canteleu" is suspected of having infiltrated the local political world. A few months ago, the Anti-Narcotics Office (OFAST) warned in a note of this "threat of infiltration of the political milieu, particularly at the local level", explaining that "the financing of electoral campaign expenses" constitutes among other things a "point of vulnerability" for elected officials.

In total, 19 people were arrested on Friday in Canteleu and Seine-Saint-Denis as part of this drug case, after two years of investigations carried out by 150 police officers from different units. The operation led to the seizure of 375,000 euros in cash, 15 kg of heroin, vehicles, military-type weapons, etc.