17-year-old killed near Seysses prison: four in custody for drone drug trafficking
A 17-year-old youth was shot in the chest on Friday morning at Seysses, near Toulouse. Four of his companions are in police custody.
Fatal shooting at Seysses: minor killed near correctional facility, drone drug trafficking suspected
A 17-year-old adolescent was fatally shot in the chest on Friday 5 June in the morning, near the Seysses correctional facility south of Toulouse, reports ladepeche.fr. The four young people accompanying him were taken into police custody during the course of the day, not for the murder but for acts related to drug delivery by drone.
A site known as a meeting point for drone deliverers
The body of the young man was discovered at the edge of a small lake located three hundred metres as the crow flies from the prison, on Place Jean-Chaubet, among tall grass. Military personnel from the Muret company and the search section, assisted by municipal police, combed the area throughout the morning searching for evidence.
The location, described by a member of a local association as "an usually quiet zone where we come to fish", had become a regular meeting point for those recruited to deliver drugs by drone to the correctional facility.
Shortly before 5 in the morning, a single fatal gunshot
According to information gathered, the victim and his four friends arrived at the location shortly before 5 in the morning, probably to participate in a delivery of "packages" to the prison. Under circumstances still to be determined, one of them was targeted by an individual armed with a pistol. The single shot proved fatal.
The victim's relatives immediately alerted emergency services and the young man's family, but he succumbed to his injuries despite medical intervention.
A few hours after the incident, the witnesses made their own way to the gendarmerie to give statements. According to their accounts, the shooter appeared without warning before fleeing.
The line of inquiry points to a settling of scores linked to drug trafficking
Investigators are pursuing the line of inquiry of a settling of scores linked to drug trafficking. The victim had a criminal record, and his presence at the location was directly related to a delivery to the prison. His brother was moreover sentenced in December to fifteen months' imprisonment for drug trafficking.
"We are not ruling out any avenue," declared a magistrate. An inquiry has been opened for murder in an organised gang.
The four witnesses in custody, their clothing analysed
As the initial interviews progressed, investigators decided to place all of the witnesses in police custody — not for the murder, but for drug delivery by drone. A decision that raises questions about the completeness of their statements.
Forensic science experts carried out samples from their clothing in order to detect any gunpowder residue linked to the use of a firearm. At this stage, none of them is suspected of having committed or directly participated in the murder.
A complex investigation, with no surveillance cameras in the area
Law enforcement finds itself faced with a particularly difficult judicial puzzle to reconstruct. The complete absence of CCTV cameras in this area deprives investigators of an essential tool. The question of whether there was any dispute between the victim and a person outside the group remains open, as do the precise reasons that led to this execution in the dead of night at the edge of the lake.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)