The first attempt was made in Finistère. On Wednesday June 10, the Finistère Gendarmerie Group and the Rennes Research Section carried out a dozen searches in the Brest sector. Their target: four Albanian nationals, aged 21 to 32. All in a regular situation, they are suspected of managing the local importation of drugs. Indicted by the Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction (JIRS) of Rennes, these men aged 32, 30, 30 and 21 were placed in provisional detention.
“Extremely sophisticated caches”
The drugs arrived from Belgium, where five other suspects were arrested on Thursday June 11 by the federal judicial police in Hal-Vilvord. According to the prosecutor of the Republic of Rennes, Frédéric Teillet, the organization relied on a Belgian apartment transformed into a “real laboratory”. The drugs were received there, cut with chemicals and packaged. To transport the cocaine to the Breton market, the conveyors used vehicles equipped with “extremely sophisticated caches”.
Hit in the wallet
The joint operation between the French gendarmerie and the Belgian federal police illustrates the desire of justice to “hit the wallet” of these international networks. And the material toll is massive. In addition to the 13 kg of cocaine and 26 kg of cutting products (acetone, ammonia), investigators got their hands on a press used to mark the drugs, as well as three firearms: two handguns and a hunting rifle.
The financial aspect managed by the Rennes Interministerial Research Group (GIR) is just as impressive: more than €90,000 in cash was also discovered, while more than €37,000 was frozen in bank accounts. In Belgium, 38 bank accounts were blocked as part of the investigation. Finally, investigators seized 19 vehicles, including several of high value, as well as jewelry, for a total value estimated at nearly €400,000.
