Brazilian arrested in France after seizure of over one tonne of cocaine on boat
A Brazilian and two Bolivians were committed for trial and remanded in custody in Paris after their vessel was intercepted in the Indian Ocean with over one tonne of cocaine on board.
Brazilian arrested in France after seizure of over one tonne of cocaine on boat
A 58-year-old Brazilian and two Bolivian nationals were committed for trial and placed in provisional detention on Friday in Paris. They had been intercepted at the end of June on a vessel sailing in the Indian Ocean with a cargo of over one tonne of cocaine, according to sources close to the case cited by the AFP.
The vessel was intercepted on 25 June off the French island of Réunion. The three men were on a journey between South America and Australia at the time, according to one of the sources. After their arrest, the suspects were transferred to mainland France and presented on Friday before a Paris investigating magistrate who ordered their incarceration.
The newspaper Le Figaro reports that a judicial inquiry was opened by the National Office for Combating Organised Crime (PNLCC). The Brazilian, who presented himself as a simple fisherman, is represented by Master Eliott Amzallag. The latter told the AFP that his client "has no connection with the world of drug trafficking, which has clearly taken advantage of his physical and mental vulnerability". The lawyer emphasised the man's state of fatigue, describing him as an exhausted elderly person.
The two Bolivians, aged in their thirties and forties, were also remanded in custody in Paris. Master Baptiste Bellet, counsel for the younger man, told the AFP that his client "will cooperate fully" and that he was convinced that the inquiry would demonstrate an absence of any connection with the criminal network in question. Master Sophie Guimanant, lawyer for the man in his forties, preferred not to comment on the case.
Source: O Globo
Source: Google News BR — Crime