Criminals used postal freight to smuggle their drug shipments, franceinfo learned on Thursday. More than 2,300 shipments were thus discovered, according to the gendarmerie.
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Five people were arrested for selling drugs via the darknet in 46 countries, including France, franceinfo learned Thursday April 21 from the national gendarmerie. After being alerted by the American authorities, the Bobigny public prosecutor’s office opened a preliminary investigation in order to carry out checks concerning the franking of followed letters. It was entrusted to the air transport research section (SRTA).
In total, these criminals were able to free more than 2,300 shipments for 700 kg of narcotics (mainly MDMA, LSD and ecstasy), for a value of nearly 7 million euros, estimate the investigators. The information transmitted by the SRTA investigators to their counterparts in the foreign services led to the seizure of 13 kg of synthetic drugs.
Searches led to the discovery of a large quantity of false identity documents, used by the main respondent, and several thousand euros. Many telephones and computer equipment were seized.
The operation mobilized around fifty gendarmes from the SRTA and the air transport gendarmerie, as well as specialized investigators from the operations support division of the cyber command of the national gendarmerie. Postal freight is increasingly used by traffickers, according to a close source.