A group of drug traffickers was dismantled Monday, November 15 morning in several towns of Vaucluse, in Avignon, Cavaillon and Entraigues-sur-la-Sorgue, as part of a large-scale police operation, Franceinfo learned Thursday, November 18 from a source close to the file. Ten people were arrested.
The operation mobilized nearly 150 officials from the judicial police of Montpellier and Avignon, with the support of police officers from the BRI and the RAID. Seven suspects, most of them in their thirties and well known to the police, were arrested. The seven men were indicted Thursday, November 17 for “conspiracy”, “drug trafficking” or “concealment of organized gang theft”. Five were remanded in custody, the other two placed under judicial supervision.
This investigation began last spring. According to a source close to the investigation, the surveillance established that this group was using stolen vehicles as well as weapons of war. The group then left in commando, armed with AK-47s, suspected, according to the same source, of carrying out robberies, settling of scores or importing narcotics.
This commando is also suspected of having fought over an important point of the Cavaillon deal that could bring in up to 30,000 euros per day, in the city of Doctor Ayme. During their operation, the police seized in several boxes three stolen cars, three weapons, 650 ammunition, three bulletproof vests, seven kilos of narcotics, as well as electronic equipment used to jam the listening devices of the investigators.
According to a close source, the investigation is continuing to determine whether this armed commando is involved in various settling of scores that have occurred in recent months around Avignon, in particular in the city of Doctor Ayme in Cavaillon.