Moroccan Man Sentenced for Smuggling 9 kg of Cannabis on French Highway

While he had left Barcelona by car registered in Spain to make a delivery "in the Troyes region", Hamza A. had been checked on January 22, 2022, on the A31, reports Jhm.fr. The customs officers discovered 9,105 grams of cannabis resin divided into nine "loaves" hidden in a wing of the tourist car driven by this Moroccan national residing in Barcelona.

On Friday, he appeared before the criminal court. At the bar, he recounts having spent the night in a hotel in Saint-Parres-aux-Tertres (Aube) awaiting communication of a delivery location "in the Troyes region", then resumed the road before being intercepted on the A31. The defendant claims not to be involved in any cannabis trafficking. "I was a hairdresser in Spain for seven years, I was paid per cut, I lost this job, I had to pay my rent, I wanted to help my parents, I was offered 3,500 euros to deliver cannabis, they took advantage of my weakness," he said, assisted by an Arabic interpreter.

After pointing out a risk of recidivism, prosecutor Djindian requested a prison sentence, with a committal order, as well as a five-year ban on appearing on French territory.

Maitre Beis, Hamza’s lawyer, defends his client: "He doesn’t know anything about it at all, he’s not even aware of the value of what he was transporting, he’s the mule, the somewhat lost kid, the ideal prey for traffickers. He didn’t cross the Strait of Gibraltar for pleasure, he arrived at 18 in Spain, to flee poverty, the comfort of French and Spanish youth, this child of an agricultural worker, he didn’t know. With his low level of education, he has managed as best he can, he has worked as a hairdresser, without being declared, of course, before falling into the hands of traffickers exploiting small hands, from start to finish, from the worker on the cultivation sites to the small consumer."

"[...] Morocco is a major producing country, everyone knows that, we can also note an absence of political demand from France towards this partner country. The traffickers are safe, he is here! [...] This 26-year-old man is eligible for a suspended prison sentence, a ban on territory will protect society and public order while allowing him to reintegrate, pleads the lawyer. Sending him to prison to learn French does not seem very useful to me, what he wants is to return to Morocco where he can exploit his skills."

After the debates, the court rendered its verdict: Hamza A. was sentenced to 15 months’ suspended imprisonment and a 22,000 euro customs fine. He is also prohibited from appearing on the territory for five years.