Marseille: ten-year prison term sought against alleged drug network leader
French justice is seeking a heavy sentence against a 37-year-old man accused of orchestrating cocaine trafficking between Dubai, Morocco and the port city.
Marseille: ten-year prison term sought against alleged drug network leader
The Marseille court of assizes saw the public prosecutor's office seek a ten-year prison sentence against Karim Harrat, a man in his forties presented as the mastermind of a transnational criminal organisation. The prosecution also includes a financial penalty of 500,000 euros and a two-thirds custody measure.
The accused is suspected of orchestrating a major cocaine trafficking operation between Dubai, Morocco and the port city. Law enforcement captured him in 2021 on the tarmac of Casablanca's Mohammed-V airport, ending several years on the run. His transfer to France was carried out in 2023. The investigating judge described him as a seasoned criminal running a structured criminal enterprise.
The evidence against him stems from the decryption in 2021 of the encrypted messaging application Sky ECC. This application, which has become a valuable tool for police, revealed millions of conversations that suspects believed were shielded from view. The conversations uncovered expose the operational functioning of the group: merchandise orders, convoy organisation and intimidation. According to the prosecution, the analysed data proves that Harrat concealed himself behind the pseudonym "Rant" to command his operations from abroad.
The prosecution argument criticised the defendant's presumptuous attitude, citing writings in which he presented himself as the undisputed master of Marseille. The defendant vigorously contests being the author of messages signed "Rant", a determining question since he is also the subject of four murder procedures. His counsel requested his acquittal, denouncing an investigation founded on rumours and cases not yet tried. They reproach investigators for relying on statements from former accomplices rather than on material evidence.
The judgment is to be pronounced this Thursday, 29 January at 11:30. Source: Bladi.net.
Source: Bladi.net