Drug trafficking in Territoire de Belfort: twelve defendants tried
A major trial for drug trafficking opens on Monday before the Belfort court with eleven defendants summoned. Offences committed between February 2024 and April 2025 in the region.
Trial for drug trafficking in Territoire de Belfort
According to estrepublicain.fr, a major trial for drug trafficking began on Monday 18 May at the judicial court of Belfort. Twelve defendants are summoned before the criminal court chamber, including eleven in the main case and one other in a related matter.
The accused, mostly from Belfort or Montbéliard, range in age from 20 to 50 years old. Four are in provisional detention, six under judicial supervision and two confined to their homes with electronic monitoring. Their lawyers, from the bars of Montbéliard, Mulhouse, Belfort, Besançon and Strasbourg, will represent them throughout the proceedings.
They are charged with unlawful offering, sale, possession and transport of narcotics, as well as illicit use. They also face other charges: participation in a criminal association, refusal to provide mobile phone unlock codes to authorities, identity theft, unlawful transport and possession of category B weapons. Most of the defendants have criminal records.
The offences allegedly took place between February 2024 and April 2025 in Territoire de Belfort and neighbouring departments: Doubs, Haute-Saône and Haut-Rhin. These offences are situated in a region exposed to interregional trafficking networks.
The trial runs from 18 to 22 May, with a possible verdict on Friday. This case recalls a previous judgment in June-July 2024 at the same court, involving an identical number of defendants for similar offences, where sentences of up to 10 years imprisonment were imposed at first instance, increased to 14 years on appeal.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)