Nîmes Police Bust Major Morocco-France Drug Ring, 12 Suspects Indicted

During an operation called "Nevada", the police of the Judicial Police of Nîmes, in collaboration with their colleagues from the RAID and the CRS, searched on Tuesday, June 28, apartments in the Escanaux district of Bagnols-sur-Cèze and a shisha bar, the Las Vegas, avenue Léon-Blum, as part of an investigation into drug trafficking (cannabis and cocaine).

The operation was a success: twelve people were arrested and presented on Thursday and Friday to an investigating judge in Nîmes and indicted in this case of drug importation and trafficking, criminal association and money laundering, reports Midi Libre. Seven of them were incarcerated and three others placed under judicial supervision. Two other suspects were presented to the judge of freedoms and detention.

During the searches, the investigators seized two luxury cars (a Porsche and a Mercedes) and a small quantity of drugs. This network would be led by a brotherhood of four brothers who frequented the Las Vegas, a shisha bar. Since 2019, this network has been delivering drugs to dealers in the Escanaux as well as to a clientele in the villages around Bagnols-sur-Cèze and in the Ardèche. They laundered the dirty money through the purchase - at a price higher than the winnings - of winning lottery tickets in several cities in France.