Will Dogan and Mehdi come to speak at the bar? These two men are not ordinary witnesses, but two undercover police officers from the Interministerial Technical Assistance Service (SIAT) who helped bring down, in 2016, a cocaine import network. The nine presumed members of this network are on trial from June 2 in Paris (the initial hearing scheduled last year had been postponed due to a procedural problem). However, several defense lawyers wish to obtain the hearing of the two investigators before the court, believing that they played an active role in the operation.
The investment of the infiltrators appears central in this affair. In June 2015, the police of the narcotics brigade are put on the track of Faride Denfer by anonymous information. This native of Tourcoing (North) already has a loaded locker but mainly for theft. This time, he would be looking for accomplices to get drugs out of an airport. The prosecution authorizes an undercover operation. Dogan, who presents himself as supervisor of a team of porters at Roissy, and Mehdi, one of his subordinates, enter the scene.
45 kg of cocaine from Rio
Between October 2015 and March 2016, Faride Denfer and Dogan met fifteen times. According to reports of infiltration, the Northerner immediately explains that he wants to sell goods from South America. Before and after each meeting, the Faride Denfer converses with a man nicknamed “Corn” or “Fish”, who appears as his partner. During a year and a half many import projects are discussed – from Saint-Martin, Benin or Colombia – but each time postponed for various reasons. But Dogan is patient and receives a few thousand euros by way of compensation.
The first import is finally set for April 11, 2016. At 7:30 am, Dogan picks up as agreed on the arrival of an Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) the two boxes of which “Corn” gave him the references the day before. Inside: 45 kg of cocaine. “Hello poto, it’s good I have the 2 bags”, wrote Dogan to his contact. The two men meet the next day in the parking lot of a DIY store in the northern suburbs for the exchange. Dogan hands over the two bags and receives 15,000 euros in cash to pay Mehdi. “Corn” is immediately arrested, the other presumed members of the network, starting with Faride Denfer, are immediately followed.
“Without the provocation of the police, there would have been no business”
During the investigation, the suspects disputed or downplayed their role. “Maïs”, where we found 18,190 euros in cash and 8 luxury watches, was presented as a simple intermediary. As for Faride Denfer, he claims to be a messenger and claims to have been manipulated by the police.
“My client has never done drugs and you cannot improvise as an international cocaine trafficker. Faride Denfer was work and I would like to obtain at the hearing the confrontation with the infiltrators which was refused to us during the investigation, ”insists his lawyer, Me Marie-Alix Canu Bernard, who sent a summons to appear to the chief of the SIAT. “Without the provocation of the police, there would have been no business,” she insists. Me Yassine Yakouti, the lawyer of another accused, will also demand the hearing of the two investigators at the opening of the trial.
“It is absolutely necessary that my client be confronted with his accusers, especially since he is not challenged by any other element of the case,” argues the criminal lawyer. “The light must still be shed in this case,” said Karim Morand-Lahouazi, the lawyer for another defendant.
–
