Moroccan Drug Kingpin "Tajine" Faces Trial in France After Spanish Arrest

Samir I. known as "Tajine", 30, appeared in court in Nanterre on Thursday for two drug cases. Actively wanted since 2015 when an international arrest warrant was issued against him, this Moroccan, son of a baker, and who grew up in Puteaux (Hauts-de-Seine), was finally arrested in February, after being located by the National Brigade for the Search of Fugitives on the Costa del Sol in Spain where he would reside under false identities. The defendant was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison, or two sentences of four years in prison for importing drugs. But he requested a retrial after his extradition to France, reports Le Parisien.

In the first case dating back to 2014, "Tajine" and the trafficking network he belonged to had tried to import cocaine from the West Indies by sea, hiding it in a "torpedo" fixed under a cargo ship. The gang leader, nicknamed "James de Puteaux", had received ten years in prison on appeal. "Tajine’s" involvement in the "torpedo operation is beyond doubt," the court had argued.

In the second case, "Tajine" is accused of having organized, with a network of traffickers, 24 go-fast between December 2014 and November 2015, allowing the transport of "several tons" of cannabis from Spain to the Paris region. According to the court, "Tajine" had clearly appeared on surveillance camera images and his DNA had been found on the cigarette lighter of a Skoda and on a bottle found in the car he was driving.

The court had noted his "long-standing and constant anchoring in delinquency". This is refuted by "Tajine’s" lawyer, Saïd Harir, who recalls that his client is a "first-time offender" whose "criminal record is devoid of any drug convictions". "He was tried by default without knowing that he was implicated in these cases. I will