Unprecedented crackdown in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. Last week, police officers from the district police station arrested five people as part of an investigation for trafficking in psychotropic drugs. Among them, a pharmacist and one of his employees are suspected of having provided the drugs necessary for the production of “Purple drank”, a fashionable drug among adolescents.
During a simple police check carried out last January, the police officers came across an individual who was carrying a bag full of drugs intended for the preparation of this cocktail composed of codeine-based cough syrup, antihistamines, antianxiolytics and sodas, and popularized in the United States by rappers.
An open sale on social networks
During their investigations, the police went as far as trafficking in psychotropic substances via, in particular, social networks, with public accounts on Snapchat and Instagram, which offered the products and their recipes to make the drink.
After two months of shadowing and surveillance, the police managed to identify five people. Two sellers first, one of whom bought his products throughout the Ile-de-France thanks to false prescriptions, and even in Switzerland or Spain, and the second who supplied him exclusively in a pharmacy in Seine- St Denis.
A pharmacy in the heart of traffic
The manager of this pharmacy and its assistant were also arrested since the investigation determined that they were actively involved in the traffic. After defrauding the CPAM with fake prescriptions for months, it seems that the greed has been too strong, pushing them to sell the drugs without a prescription and without declaration.
“The investigation showed that the traffic had existed for at least two years, including at least one year with this pharmacist”, specifies Thomas Rius, commissioner of the 18th arrondissement. A large logistics was even in place with orders for several hundred boxes weekly, deadlines to be met and payments for each delivery.
Up to 3,000 bottles of syrup per week
In all, at least 3,000 bottles of cough syrup would have passed between the pharmacist and one of the traffickers over the last six months. During the search, 23,000 euros in cash were found at the pharmacist who said he had earned almost 30,000 euros in traffic. The “dealer” would have earned more than 100,000 euros, according to the police, by selling “preparation packs” between 40 and 70 euros each. A fifth person, who would have helped the sellers to hide and transit the products, was arrested.
After a 48-hour police custody, the five individuals were brought on March 17 and placed under judicial supervision pending their future trial which will take place “before next summer” according to the Paris prosecutor’s office, contacted by 20 minutes. The two pharmacists are being prosecuted for aiding and abetting aid in the misuse and abuse of a drug and incur a fine of up to 7 years and 750,000 euros, against up to 5 years of imprisonment and 375,000 euros in fines. fine for sellers and their accomplices who are prosecuted for acquiring, possessing, offering or selling and transporting substances classified as psychotropic.
The “Purple drank”, named after the color of the syrup, has been slowly arriving in France for a few years. Difficult to detect, it is very popular among young people who want to “hover” according to commissioner Thomas Rius. “During the confinement, we were able to observe its use on numerous occasions during checks for parties in certain apartments. Reputed to be milder among young people, it can nevertheless lead to overdoses, breathing difficulties and comas.