Young Couple in Béarn Sentenced for Cross-Border Drug Trafficking and Extortion

It all started with a complaint filed by a client of the drug trafficking who accused Hamza Banini, a young Moroccan in his twenties, of having taken his bank card and his ex-girlfriend of 23 years of having made cash withdrawals. An investigation is then conducted by the gendarmes of the research brigade of Oloron-Sainte-Marie. The investigation reveals that the couple made at least 36 trips to Spain between September 2021 and late June 2022, reports Sud Ouest. The couple contacts clients via WhatsApp or Messenger for cannabis or cocaine transactions. An activity they carried out after losing their jobs. During the search of their home, the investigators seized 265 grams of cannabis.

At the bar, Hamza Banini, 15 convictions on his criminal record and in recidivism, claims that he earned between "600 and 800 euros per month". A sum that allowed him to meet the needs of the indebted family. "It seems that you find yourself with one hand in front, one hand behind," the president Denis Scotet points out to him. "What did the trafficking serve you for then?" "It served me to find myself two months in prison [EDITOR’S NOTE: in pre-trial detention], to lose custody of my daughter. In fact, it didn’t serve anything at all, I lost everything because of that," the defendant replies.

Questioned in turn, his ex-girlfriend admits the facts she is accused of. In addition to the trips to Spain, she would have replaced her partner in Morocco in March to ensure deliveries. "She didn’t gain anything, points out her lawyer Mehdi Akroum. She even impoverished herself in her relationship with Mr. Banini. She was under the influence," he considers. She was "instrumentalized," the prosecutor Aurore Chauprade believes. Found guilty only of drug trafficking, Hamza was sentenced to two years in prison, including six months suspended probation, while his ex-girlfriend received eight months suspended sentence.

"Me, I deserve what’s happening to me, I played with fire," Hamza conceded at the end of the hearing.