Suspected of having participated in the import of nearly 22 kilos of cannabis from Spain for resale in the Bordeaux area, three men including a father and his son appeared this Tuesday, February 8 before the Bordeaux court. Customs officers had intercepted the convoy of cars near Sare, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, on February 4. The 24-year-old son was sentenced to one year in prison, his father to two and a half years.
22 kilos of herbal cannabis hidden in heat-sealed bags
That morning, customs officers first arrest the 23-year-old young man. Having spotted nothing suspicious, they release him and continue his journey to Bordeaux where he lives with his grandmother. About twenty minutes later, at the same place, two other vehicles are intercepted. The customs officers discovered in one of the two trunks nearly 22 kilos of herbal cannabis hidden in heat-sealed bags, seized several mobile phones, maps with the route drawn as well as walkie-talkies.
They also realize that the 47-year-old driver of the vehicle supposed to “close” the convoy is none other than the father of the young man checked just before. The latter was arrested at his home a few hours later before being placed in police custody and then in pre-trial detention in Bordeaux-Gradignan prison like the other two men.
“My son was not aware, he was going to see his girlfriend”
When the floor is given to the 47-year-old father, standing in the box, hands behind his back, he acknowledges his involvement but affirms that “it’s the only time” that he and his 53-year-old accomplice are participating in a “go fast”. “A simple transport” for a third person which was to earn them 4,000 euros. The defendant also assures that his son is not involved in this traffic, that“He didn’t know”.
According to his version, they would have found themselves in Spain after four years without seeing each other. The father was abroad, in Morocco and then in Canada, he explains that his son had been going to Spain regularly for several months to see his girlfriend, today in the courtroom and 8 months pregnant.
Prison sentences and 175,000 euros customs fine
“I wanted to protect my father”, replies the 24-year-old young man when the president of the court asks him what he was doing there if it wasn’t to open the convoy. He admits to having been “accomplice to pass it off but not for narcotics”. Her father was the subject of a search sheet to serve a three-month prison sentence, pronounced in France a few years earlier. He maintains that he wanted to prevent him from “goes through the prison box”.
The public prosecutor is annoyed, points contradictory statements during the hearings, “a very comfortable lifestyle” despite low income and what she considers an organization”smoothly conducted”. She requested four years in prison, including one year suspended probation for the son and five years in prison with one year suspended for the father.
Found guilty of possessing, transporting and importing narcotics, the father was finally sentenced to 2 and a half years in prison, his son, found guilty of complicity, was sentenced to one year in prison. A sentence accompanied by 175,000 euros customs fine for the three defendants.