"Pink Town" network dismantled in Toulouse: 13 kg of drugs seized, six arrests
The DCT has dismantled a drug trafficking network operating on Telegram under the name "Pink Town". Six men were taken into custody, 13 kg of drugs seized for an estimated value of 320,000 euros.
Drug trafficking on Telegram in Toulouse: the "Pink Town" network taken down
According to Google News FR — Crime (fr), investigators from the Territorial Crime Division (DCT) in Toulouse seized nearly 13 kilos of drugs and arrested six men as part of the dismantling of a drug trafficking network organised around an encrypted Telegram account named "Pink Town" — a reference to the City of Rose. The facts date back to Tuesday 25 August.
The six suspects, aged 22, 30, 35, 36, 43 and 53, were apprehended between Tuesday and Wednesday in Toulouse and its immediate suburbs, and taken into custody for drug trafficking. Their interviews were continuing at the time of publication.
A drug supermarket delivering several hundred customers per day
The network offered an extensive catalogue: 4.4 kg of cannabis herb, 1.9 kg of ketamine, 1.9 kg of cannabis resin, 1.2 kg of cocaine, 1.1 kg of MDMA, 700 g of MMC, 350 g of hallucinogenic mushrooms, 730 LSD tabs and 1,500 ecstasy tablets. The total market value is estimated at 320,000 euros at retail resale price.
"The network delivered several hundred customers per day," an investigator noted. According to the same source, so-called "party drugs" — ketamine, MDMA, LSD — targeted a clientele with certain means, during evening events or chemsex practices.
Surveillance since June, third network reconstituted
Investigators had been monitoring the Telegram account since June. "Pink Town" did not appear out of nowhere: it is an offshoot of two previous networks already dismantled, one of which was called "Shoptesrêves". "It regrew on the encrypted network following the dismantling of two previous accounts," a specialist on the case confides.
The main organiser remains unidentified. "The organisers remain in the shadows. One could even imagine that the person pulling the strings from the outset and who reconstituted the distribution network is one and the same person," adds the same source. "He is not identified at this stage," confirms another.
Minders and couriers, but not the usual profile
The six arrested occupied roles as minders or couriers. "The minders prepare the merchandise. The couriers deliver it to loyal customers," an investigator explains. Orders were placed via the encrypted Telegram account, without direct contact with the organisers.
During the raids, police found a "small quantity of cash": 3,000 euros. "This is working capital. Apparently, they had just reconstituted the product stocks," analyses a source close to the case.
Notably: the six men in custody — one of whom is represented by Mes Sarah Nabet-Claverie and Éric Mouton — "do not have the usual profile," according to this same source. Some even reportedly have clean criminal records.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)