"Uber-style" drug dealing network dismantled in Vaucluse: five arrests
Five individuals were arrested on 1 September in Vaucluse for organised drug trafficking conducted via social media and encrypted messaging services.
Drug trafficking in Vaucluse: home delivery network dismantled by gendarmerie
Five individuals were arrested on 1 September 2026 as part of a judicial operation targeting a drug trafficking network structured on the model of an on-demand delivery platform, according to cnews.fr. The Carpentras public prosecutor's office revealed details of the case in a statement released on 4 September.
The investigation had been opened in April, approximately five months before the arrests, after gendarmes from the Orange gendarmerie company were informed of the discovery of a parcel containing cannabis resin in the municipality of Violès, "hidden behind an air conditioning unit on public land", according to the prosecutor.
Modus operandi: online orders, deliveries in two municipalities
The network operated in the municipalities of Violès and Jonquières. It relied on social media and encrypted messaging to receive orders and coordinate deliveries, in the manner of an on-demand transport service. Several months of surveillance, field observations, analysis of CCTV footage, and interviews with witnesses and consumers enabled investigators to identify its members.
The operation on 1 September mobilised the investigations unit of the Orange gendarmerie company, reinforced by the community policing unit. Five suspects were taken into custody. Investigators also seized several vehicles used for deliveries, packaging materials, cash, and cannabis resin.
Sentences imposed: remand in custody and immediate trial appearances
Following their interviews, the suspects were brought before the public prosecutor's office. Three of them—aged 21, 23 and 28, residing in Violès and "adversely known to police and judicial authorities"—will be tried on immediate appearance before Carpentras magistrates' court on 2 November 2026 for offences under drug legislation. Two were remanded in custody pending trial; the third was placed under judicial supervision.
The other two suspects benefited from a guilty plea procedure (CRPC). The first was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment suspended and a fine of €1,000, of which €500 suspended. The second received eight months' imprisonment suspended and a fine of €600, of which €300 suspended. An additional sentence of a ban on contacting the network leader for three years was imposed on both convicted individuals.
Prosecutor's statement
"This case illustrates once again the commitment and effectiveness of the Carpentras public prosecutor's office and the Orange gendarmerie company in the daily fight against drug trafficking and organised crime," said Carpentras prosecutor Hélène Mourges. The prosecutor's office had described the fight against this type of trafficking as a "criminal policy priority".
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)