French Drug Bust Leads to 7-Year Sentence for Extradited Trafficker

It all started with an anonymous tip received by the Ofast (Anti-Drug Office) police in 2022. A drug delivery is scheduled for the next day in the ZAC de l’Orme, in Belloy-en-France. "A truck with a semi-trailer registered in Bulgaria backs up in a garage while a man stands guard. A white van arrives a little later, followed by a second one," Le Parisien reports. The police arrive on the scene and arrest five men and seize 114 packets of pollen (highly concentrated cannabis) near the truck, or 1,055 kg. On the mezzanine of the garage, they find 18 kg and the packaging of 16 packets. The market value of the cargo should bring in between 3.5 and 8 million euros.

The court sentenced six people to prison terms ranging from 4 to 8 years on November 24, 2023. Tried in absentia, Mohamed Y. received the harshest sentence. Last September, he was arrested in Morocco, which had put an end to his fugitive status. After his arrest, he was transferred to France. "He was identified as the principal and the orderer, having coordinated the delivery," the president said when summarizing the case file. He will be acquitted of the charges of complicity in importation and criminal association, but convicted of complicity in drug possession last Friday. He was also fined 70,000 euros.