Cocaine and cannabis trafficking in Liège: up to six years' imprisonment for two defendants
The Liège Court of Appeal has sentenced two defendants to sentences of up to six years' imprisonment for drug trafficking. Minors had been recruited as couriers.
Home dealing network dismantled: heavy sentences on appeal in Liège
The Liège Court of Appeal has imposed sentences of up to six years' imprisonment on two defendants involved in a cocaine and cannabis trafficking operation run from Liège between September 2022 and May 2024, according to DHnet.
Arbesa, 30, from Liège, was sentenced to six years' imprisonment with a further three years suspended for what exceeds the time already served in pre-trial detention. Martial, 35, from Châtelet, received the same sentence. Both defendants had appealed the first-instance decision.
Confiscations and fines
Beyond the custodial sentences, the magistrates ordered the confiscation of €76,610 and €200,000 in equivalent confiscations against Arbesa, in addition to a fine of €8,000. Martial must pay €8,000 in fines and a further €8,000 in confiscations.
Trafficking organised from the Sainte-Marguerite district
The investigation began on 22 November 2023, when Liège police drew up an initial report after receiving several pieces of information indicating that Arbesa, nicknamed Linda, "would be back" in the Sainte-Marguerite district and was running a "home deal" type trafficking operation.
According to information gathered, she surrounded herself with several accomplices tasked with recruiting young people to carry out deliveries from several addresses. These young people were subjected to pressure and threats in order to force them to sell the drugs. Orders were routed through a call centre, whilst communications took place notably via Snapchat, under the accounts "Sinaloa" and "Greenblanco7mar".
Telephone data exploitation, rapidly coupled with wiretaps, made it possible to build up the case file that was placed under investigation.
Searches on 22 May: seizures in several municipalities
Following the investigations, the investigating magistrate issued arrest warrants and search orders, executed on 22 May in several properties in the Liège region.
On Rue Sous le Bois in Ans, officers seized 822 grammes of cannabis and fifty-six rocks of cocaine. On Rue du Pont in Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, they seized bags that had contained marijuana as well as two precision scales. On Rue Xhendremael in Awans, the search made it possible to recover cash, mobile telephones, 20 grammes of cocaine and nineteen balls of white powder.
The vehicle used by a third defendant, Mathias, for its part concealed a hidden compartment built into the handbrake unit, inside which a ball of white powder had been hidden.
60,000 euros thrown from a Velux window
On Avenue des Platanes in Saint-Nicolas, at the home of Arbesa's mother, an individual threw a bag from a Velux window on the second floor at the moment of the officers' arrival. The bag contained wads of notes totalling €60,000 as well as jewellery. During the same search, a further €16,500 was found hidden in a telephone packaging concealed in a cradle, as well as €1,940 in cash, a money transfer document and equipment intended for cannabis cultivation.
A 16-year-old minor involved
Subsequently, a young person aged 16 was arrested and confirmed to investigators that he was selling drugs on behalf of this organisation. In total, seven adults had been arrested in connection with this case; only two ultimately appealed.
Source: DHnet