Ariège: three convictions in drug dealing operation from a convenience store
A cannabis and cocaine distribution network that used a late-night grocery store as its base in Laroque-d'Olmes has been tried in Foix. The defendants received custodial prison sentences.
Ariège: three convictions in drug dealing operation from a convenience store
The court in Foix delivered its verdict on Friday in a drug trafficking case in Laroque-d'Olmes. Three defendants were sentenced for their involvement in a narcotics sales operation that operated from a late-night grocery store.
The investigation required several months of work. Police officers conducted interviews with buyers, monitored the shop, seized and analysed mobile phones, and carried out searches that led to significant discoveries.
Yanis, a 19-year-old adolescent already marked by a conviction with a suspended sentence for violence, partially admitted the allegations. He acknowledged using a Snapchat account to sell drugs, whilst arguing that others also used it. He claimed not to know the identity of his supplier, an individual he could only meet in a street in Lavelanet.
Saïd, a man in his forties with no criminal record, presented himself as a compulsive consumer, admitting to smoking up to twenty joints daily. He assured the court that his dealings served only to finance this addiction. Regarding the liquid assets found at his home, he cited sports betting winnings and the sale of personal items.
Killian, a young man in his twenties, confessed to selling white powder to pay for his own consumption. He mentioned a supplier based in Toulouse whose stock he managed, from which he took for his own use. He acknowledged diverting part of the merchandise and falling into debt, describing himself as the "slave" of this mysterious commanding officer.
The investigations revealed a standard of living incompatible with declared income: German-brand vehicles, high-end electronic devices, luxury watches, gaming consoles and even a note-counting machine. Killian claimed that these cars were merely wrecks he had purchased to be refurbished.
The court president, Sun-Yung Lazare, was not convinced by the defence arguments and imposed effective custodial sentences against all three defendants.
Source: La Dépêche
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)