An international methamphetamine production network dismantled in the Var – Liberation

Marseille, Belgium, and links with A Mexican cartel… The action of the anti -constant police services made it possible to dismantle an international synthetic drug manufacturing network based in the VAR, the Marseille prosecutor’s office announced this Saturday 24 May. The investigation conducted in the arrest of fifteen people, in the south of France and overseas, of which eight were indicted.

This operation, launched Monday May 19 after months of investigations under the aegis of the specialized interregional jurisdiction (JIRS) of Marseille, follows the arrest in June 2024 in the Var two people carrying 215 kg of methamphetamine. An exceptional seizure of this synthetic drug,, « Corresponding, alone, to the annual seizures carried out in France in recent years », had then underlined the Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone in a press release.

After these arrests, the investigation showed that « 400 kg of methamphetamine were produced in the spring of 2024 in a laboratory created from scratch in a luxurious property of the Var hinterland »said the prosecutor.

« The products serving as raw materials, mostly bought in China, were sent by sea and then road to Var companies, where the network had solid logistics relays »he adds, assessing turnover to retail resale at more than 11 million euros, for an initial investment estimated around 150,000 euros.

The two people arrested in June 2024, belonging to Var banditry, were « Associated in this traffic, having ramifications in several European countries, A Mexican cartel« , According to the prosecutor Bessone. Investigators were also able to identify flower sectors involving intermediaries located in Spain and in Belgium and discovered « The use of cryptocurrencies to ensure fund transfers ”.

The arrests mainly had in the Var. But, « One of the main heads of the network was arrested in Belgium by the Liège judicial police, as part of a request for a mutual aid »underlines the Marseille prosecutor.

This magnitude operation mobilized 190 soldiers from the research section of the Marseille gendarmerie and the Var gendarmerie group, reinforced by soldiers from the research sections of Versailles, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Var, Dordogne, the maritime gendarmerie, the gendarmerie of air transport and Specialized protection of the Cadarache gendarmerie (Bouches-du-Rhône).

Searches have enabled the entry of species, three vehicles, luxury leather goods, many mobile phones and electronic equipment used to detect the surveillance systems used by the police.

Abandoned equipment was also discovered in the Villa of the Var hinterland that hosted the laboratory of production of methamphetamines.

At the end of the hearings, eight of the fifteen people arrested were indicted, in particular for import, production and international traffic of narcotic products in organized gang and different forms of money laundering. Six were placed in pre -trial detention and two judicial subsidence.