International cocaine trafficking: man from Brest to be tried in Rennes from 4 May 2026
A man in his fifties from Brest is appearing before the Rennes interregional specialised court for international cocaine trafficking, alongside twelve co-defendants. His request for release was rejected.
Cocaine from Punta Cana: man from Brest referred to Rennes specialised court
According to actu.fr, a man in his fifties from Brest will appear from Monday 4 May 2026 before the interregional specialised jurisdiction (JIRS) in Rennes to answer charges of international cocaine trafficking. The hearings are scheduled to run for three weeks.
The accused, who will turn 50 in July, had previously had no criminal record. He is referred to the JIRS alongside twelve other defendants, men and women, on charges of "importing narcotics", "possession" and "participation in a criminal association".
Caught red-handed at an Orly car park
The man from Brest had been arrested red-handed in a car park whilst loading "cocaine packages" into a vehicle equipped with a hidden compartment. The drugs had just arrived in a suitcase carried by a courier at Orly airport, coming from Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. The case has connections to Orly (Val-de-Marne) and Montoir-de-Bretagne (Loire-Atlantique).
Recognised as a disabled worker, the man admitted to committing the offences "for a few hundred euros". A former welder at the Brest Arsenal, he is also described as having been "probably in direct contact, at least since 2021" with Issam Lahrach, known as La Plume, suspected of heading a financial network funded by illicit activities "managed from Morocco", where he has been in hiding for several years. The authorities describe him as "the godfather of godfathers" of drug trafficking in Nantes, whose influence extends to other sectors of the Greater West region.
Three release decisions, all overturned on appeal
Nicknamed "Mister Almost" by one of his lawyers, Me Éloïse Donnart, the man from Brest was the subject of three release decisions handed down by three different judges for freedoms and detention in Rennes. On each occasion, the Court of Appeal's instruction chamber in Rennes overturned these decisions. The man has been in custody since 29 September 2023.
His other lawyer, Me Sobieslaw Bemmoussat, a Paris-based criminal specialist, denounces a situation which, in his view, amounts to playing "Russian roulette". He laments that other suspects "far more heavily implicated" and "with more serious criminal records" were released by the instruction chamber during the judicial investigation.
"What caused the problem is that they accuse him of proximity to Issam Lahrach", analysis by Me Bemmoussat. "Assuming that the latter is involved, if we were to take this element of proximity into account, then no one would have been able to get out given the case file", he adds. The lawyer further emphasises that "it is not a legal criterion for keeping him in provisional detention".
Request for release rejected on eve of trial
On 30 April 2026, the two lawyers filed a request for release before the Rennes JIRS, denouncing a "difference in treatment" between their client and other co-defendants. The accused offered to be housed at his parents' home in Brest for the duration of the trial, or to "take a hotel in Rennes" for the duration of the proceedings.
He also raised health issues: burst eardrums requiring the insertion of ventilation tubes, as well as sciatic nerve attacks. However, he believed he could "find work" despite his back pain.
The court rejected the request, citing the need to "guarantee his attendance" and "prevent any fraudulent collusion". "This decision is incomprehensible to him: he experiences it as harassment", replied Me Bemmoussat following the hearing.
The defendant himself had declared during the hearing: "I prefer to sleep in prison than to be in their hands."
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)