The capture is impressive. During the weekend, twenty-one tonnes of nitrous oxide, also known as “laughing gas”, were discovered by two police crews in a warehouse in Vénissieux, near Lyon.
Saturday around 6:30 p.m., the police, initially called for the triggering of a company alarm, noticed a suspicious vehicle, quickly leaving the area. The occupants of the car explained that they had just “obtained nitrous oxide, in a warehouse located nearby”, indicated the departmental direction of public security (DDSP) of the Rhône in a press release.
Once there, the police “discovered twenty-two pallets of boxes of nitrous oxide, for a total of twenty-one tons”, according to the same source. “The manager of the company, present on the spot, was arrested and placed in police custody for concealed work”, continues the DDSP of the Rhône. The man, whose profile has not been communicated, was to be referred Monday during the day to the Lyon prosecutor’s office.
Consumption prohibited in Paris until July 31
At the beginning of May, in Paris, a prefectural decree prohibited minors until July 31 from possessing and consuming nitrous oxide on public roads in many districts of the capital.
Used as an analgesic in medicine or in kitchen siphons, nitrous oxide or “laughing gas” is particularly popular among young people who inhale it for its short psychoactive effects, of the order of three to four minutes. The consumption of this psychotropic presents risks such as asphyxia, loss of consciousness, burns but also, in the event of repeated use and/or in high doses, severe neurological, hematological, psychiatric and cardiac disorders.
It is today the third most consumed substance in France after tobacco and alcohol, according to the Paris police headquarters.