Hadj D., a figure in the drug trade, tried in Toulouse, his accomplices on the run in Morocco

Considered by the police of the Anti-Narcotics Office (Ofast) as the third largest drug trafficker in France, the 40-year-old Toulousain was placed in detention in the high-security prison of Vendin-le-Vieil on August 4 last. Hadj D. is the subject of a new investigation that has revealed the existence of a criminal organization based in Toulouse. The accused had been sentenced to seven years in prison for having introduced nearly a ton of cannabis into France. He will benefit from parole in June 2019, recalls La Dépêche.

In the spring of 2023, the Ofast had opened an investigation after having seen Hadj D. several times with other alleged traffickers in a pub on the Place de Milan, between Papus and Reynerie, in Toulouse. The surveillance of the criminal and his team, as well as another alleged major trafficker, Camal A., 42 years old, allowed the investigators to prevent the introduction, by these two figures of the international drug trafficking and money laundering, of large quantities of drugs in Spain.

After several months of observation, the Ofast investigators intercepted on October 8, 2023 a convoy transporting 603 kilograms of cannabis resin. This operation led to the arrest of Hadj D. at his home and his placement in pre-trial detention. But the drug baron would have continued to direct his operations from his prison cell. The Toulousain gave precise instructions to the members of the network and his accomplices, including Camal A., via the encrypted messaging services Signal and Snapchat.

Camal A. is the subject of an arrest warrant. According to the investigators, he would have left France for Morocco via Spain on October 6. The search of his unoccupied apartment in Cugnaux allowed the seizure of various objects including a detector, signal jammers, a banknote counter, a semi-automatic pistol, etc. Nourredine B., another drug trafficker mentioned in the case, is also on the run and wanted. In total, sixteen defendants appeared this Monday before the Toulouse Correctional Court.