French Drug Lord Sentenced to 10 Years, Fined €2 Million While Hiding in Morocco

In total, 18 alleged members of this "very high intensity" cocaine, heroin and cannabis trafficking network active in Canteleu were tried during a trial that lasted a month (late May to late June). This gang generated "exceptional capital inflows" reaching 15 million euros between 2019 and 2021, according to the estimates of the Bobigny court.

The Bobigny prosecutor’s office had requested seven years in prison with a committal order and a 200,000 euro fine against certain defendants. The court ultimately sentenced them to various sentences. One of them received five years in prison, including two suspended with probation, a "much lower sentence than the prosecutor’s office’s requisitions," the prosecutor said, announcing an appeal against the decision. Seven of the 18 defendants also appealed their conviction.

The Bobigny prosecutor’s office also announced an appeal against the July 4 decision by the court ordering the acquittal of Mélanie Boulanger, former mayor of Canteleu (Seine-Maritime), prosecuted in this case for complicity in drug trafficking. The prosecution had requested one year of suspended imprisonment against her, as well as five years of ineligibility and a 10,000 euro fine for having transmitted sensitive information to the traffickers and used her connections to intervene in their favor with the local police