By the very admission of the public prosecutor, at the Chartres court, this is “quite a case”.
A record of drug trafficking out of the ordinary, both by the personality of the six defendants – from their forties to the criminal records well filled for the most part – as by the absence in the box of suspects who are however, it seems , also involved.
“We had to make choices,” said the magistrate. “We cannot bring everyone before a court. “
The investigation began in June 2017. It led to the identification of several people, in Eure-et-Loir, in the Paris region and in the Nièvre department. The gendarmes discovered the existence of convoys, made up of an opening car and a carrying car, traveling regularly from the Chartraine region to the Nièvre.
Sentences of one to eight months in prison
The investigations lasted several months. GPS beacons have been placed on the suspect cars. Telephone lines, used on disposable telephones changed regularly by suspects, were tapped.
On December 5, 2018, the gendarmes decided to strike. On that day, a convoy of two cars left for the Nièvre. They stop the carrier car at the Allaines toll booth. It is led by Michel Simoes, a resident of Meudon (Hauts-de-Seine). A kilo of heroin is hidden in the back of the front passenger seat. The driver of the opener, an Alfa Romeo Giulia, was arrested on arrival near Nevers (Nièvre). Several other arrests took place in the hours and days that followed.
With containment, “drugs risk becoming scarce” in the Center-Val de Loire region, analysis by divisional Éric Corderot
But the one the gendarmes absolutely want to find is Ertan Korkmaz, a 41-year-old resident of Allonnes, suspected of being in charge of the drug trade.
The man has been on the run since September 2016, where he was sentenced to five years in prison by the Paris court for drug trafficking.
Investigators say all the clues lead to him. It was he who would have supplied the various cars used for the convoys. High-end cars (Audi, BMW, Porsche, etc.) when he has no official income.
He was finally arrested a few days later. Before the Chartres court, he ensures that he is innocent. “It’s true that I changed my phone often,” he admits. “But that has nothing to do with drug trafficking. It’s because I was on the run. “
The other defendants are in the same position. They only recognize the obvious and deny the rest as a whole.
Defense attorneys evoke errors in the investigation, recognized by the public prosecutor. “A situation due to the many changes of examining magistrates in this case. But also the absence in the box of some suspects, one of whom had admitted to being a nurse.
All were found guilty by the court.
Sentences. Convictions. Erlan Korkmaz was sentenced to eight years in prison and a fine of € 15,000. Michel Simoes, six years in prison and a € 10,000 fine. Éric Perrot, six years in prison and a 5,000 € fine. Raffi Massard, six years in prison. Orhan Guneri, four years in prison and a 5,000 € fine. Alain Romaric, three years in prison, including two years suspended.
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Audience: Jacques Joannopoulos
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