The green hand. The anti-narcotics unit of the Lille judicial police (Ofast) has grabbed five individuals suspected of having embarked on the cultivation of cannabis on an industrial scale, we learned from the Lille prosecutor’s office. .
The investigation was launched last May and focused only on the suspicious actions of a man living in Villeneuve d’Ascq, near Lille. Already, the police suspected their target of being “involved in drug trafficking”, but also of organizing a culture indoor large amounts of cannabis.
A network between Lille and Maubeuge
For months, the investigators of the PJ of Lille stuck to the train of their suspect and gradually discovered the extent of the traffic. The investigations notably made it possible to locate, in Maubeuge, a commercial premises transformed into a real “cannabiculture farm”. Several accomplices of the main target have also been identified in the Lille area and near Maubeuge.
On December 6, the police had enough information to trigger the arrest of 6 suspects and the search of several places, including the commercial premises. It is inside the latter that 2,000 cannabis plants “at full maturity” were seized. Investigators also found 2 kg of drugs, in the form of resin and grass, more than 6,000 euros in cash and a handgun. Not to mention the 12,000 euros seized directly from the bank accounts of two of the suspects.
Last Friday, at the end of their police custody, five people were indicted, in particular for production and manufacture of narcotics and association of criminals. Three were imprisoned, and the others placed under judicial supervision.