In Béarn, in the town of Gurmaçon, a man was stopped with 34 kilos of cannabis. Arrested by customs, he was sentenced to two years in prison this Monday, July 24, 2023, by the Pau court.
Summary of the facts This Monday, July 24, 2023, a man was sentenced to two years in prison by thePau court
. He had been stopped with 34 kilos of cannabis in Béarn, in the town of Gurmaçon. This individual was driving from Spain to France
when he was arrested in May 2023 by customs. He was transporting 34 kilos of cannabis hidden in a rental car. This man of Algerian origin had been living in Moselle and had been involved in a lucrative drug trafficking operation for some time. On May 20, 2023, he was arrested near Oloron-Sainte-Marie with approximately 30 kilos of cannabis. He had come from Spain and was traveling on the departmental roads of Béarn. During his trial, he declined to comment on the facts of the case, only expressing his desire to return to work. He provided no information or details that could have allowed law enforcement to dismantle any drug trafficking network.
This individual was sentenced to pay a fine of €60,000, which corresponds to the street value of the drugs he was transporting. The slightly more than 34 kilos of cannabis he was carrying were divided into bags, packed in sports bags, and hidden under bath towels.
This merchandise had been specially packaged to avoid attracting the attention of customs officials. Everything was found in the trunk and on the back seat of a vehicle stopped in Gurmaçon. Customs officers also foundtwo cell phones and750 euros in 50-euro bills in this Seat Leónwhich had been rented in
Germany.
Taken into custody, the 32-year-old man explained to French police that a man based in Rotterdam, Netherlands had promised him €10,000 cash for transporting this quantity of drugs. In court, the accused explained that he had been living in France for eight years, that he received €1,800 in unemployment benefits each month, and that he had a job offer in Thionville. The presiding judge of the Pau court replied: “You weren’t exactly penniless at the time of this case, which is surprising.” To justify himself, the defendant listed his expenses: “I have a child, rent, etc.” “Yes, like everyone else,” the judge reminded him before summarizing: “This man is a mule tasked with transporting the merchandise from point A to point B. I’m not accusing him of being an organizer or instigator, but there’s no drug trafficking without a transporter.” The defendant’s lawyer, Victor Moradell-Casellas,
argued for acquittal and pointed to violations of fundamental freedoms: “I would like to know why my client was stopped in Gurmaçon; I have no criteria that allow me to know that this was not a case of racial profiling.”
