What is it, an investigation and the dismantling of a major cocaine import network? In the sprawling case that occupies the 7th chamber of the Marseille criminal court for another three weeks, there are obviously few things: a suitcase lost on an airport carpet, poor communication, too much baggage checked by the security service of the airline, a different weight than the one weighed at check-in…
The system of importing and distributing cocaine which, according to investigators, sprinkled powder from Paris to Marseille via Aix, the Côte d’Azur and as far as Italy and for which 28 people, including two Colombians, are appearing – absent of the trial – however seemed well established. The packages were sent from the airports of Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) and Caracas (Venezuela) where they were placed in suitcases introduced by accomplice airport agents who took genuine passenger suitcases out of the circuit to replace them with those containing their amazing merchandise. It remained for other accomplices to recover it on the other side of the Atlantic, at Charles de Gaulle airport.
But on June 12, 2012, not everything went as planned. A responsible security officer operating on the Air France flight from Punta Cana to Charles de Gaulle spotted additional baggage at the exit of the hold. The padlocked luggage, and opened by customs, is loaded with 23 kg of 85% pure cocaine. Rebelote on July 8, with an incredible miss, where a suitcase never stops spinning alone on its airport carpet. On board, neither shorts nor jerseys but 36 kg of white powder.
Fake luxury bags, players’ agents, car trading… the defendants launder
Which confirms the track on which investigators have been working for long weeks who have placed under visual and telephone surveillance a dozen individuals distributed in France between the Var, the Bouches-du-Rhône and Paris which is agitated precisely around the date of this seizure and in the vicinity of the airport. The band of forties and fifties, essentially already on the radar of justice, have the profile of experienced thugs in their methods of communication. In addition to the emblematic tattoos, these fashionable radio communication beepers in the 1980s and 1990s which gave their name – and a certain originality – to this file, the defendants communicated via various mobile phones and using telephone booths, which still existed. at the time. The cryptic conversations are a mixture of “alphanumeric code”, underlined the prosecutor, and diverted vocabulary where it is a question of “table”, “girlfriend”, “paper”, “beach”…
Questioned on the merits for the first time since the start of this trial at the beginning of last week, the defendants heard on Monday scrapped to minimize or deny their involvement and regain their memory often remained silent in police custody or before the judge. instruction. “Me, I had an activity of supplying Italian culinary products and I was smuggling leather goods, fake high-end Hermès bags and fake watches”, preferred to admit the Var Vincent S., at the time installed in Italy and suspected of supplying this sector. His contacts with Kamel S., obviously the cornerstone of this file – but absent from this trial because he was interned in a psychiatric hospital for a month? “I had to sell him a few bags,” he supposes. Likewise his 24-hour trip to Naples with another defendant, Joël S. “A business of buying and reselling cars” launched by his sidekick.
So many commercial activities that the court suspects of being a money laundering machine. A side of this file which will be studied in a third time. Shaved head, build of a cast iron pusher, which he must have done during the three and a half of his pre-trial detention, Vincent S., arms crossed, presents himself rather as a facilitator and a lucky one. His Range Rover? Won at a golf contest. “Luckily, I made a hole in one”. His trips to Paris with other people involved in the file, especially around the missed delivery dates? “I advised him on the acquisition of an Italian specialty restaurant, that’s my job. »
Another month of trial
It is the same story, but different that Abdelnasser S., brother of Kamel S., delivered before the court with a recovered memory, welcomed by the president of the court. “It’s me in the photos and I’ll explain why,” he introduces, after denying his presence in police custody and facing the investigating judge. “I wanted to protect my son, who was about to sign as a professional footballer. He was playing for Montpellier, but wanted to change. I went to Paris to meet Salvator J. who was then a player’s agent and managed recruitment for OM”. His contacts with Alexandre Saci, another defendant cited in this case but absent at the hearing? The latter is at the time the companion of Marie Acariès, daughter of Louis Acariès, close and influential adviser of the Dreyfus era at OM whose name appears at the bend of a listening. He is then in the company of Galavan J. the brother of Salvator.
The latter, who appeared in court supported by a crutch, the approach of the dean of the band, was the only one that day to pay lip service to the facts of which he is accused. After a morning interrogation passed to contest, in a rather unconvincing way, the 66-year-old defendant returned after lunch in a better mood. “I’m sorry I disrespected you earlier. There you go, I’m tired, I recognize what I’m appearing for in this case, but don’t want to say more, ”he told the court, preferring now to make use of his right to silence. His lawyer, Marylou Diamantara underlines the desire of his client not to incriminate himself. And to give the other defendants a chance, without predicting their involvement, to unpack their story. They have until December 7 to convince the court.