The information was taken up by the national media, so important is it: 240 kg of cocaine, more than twenty weapons, a thousand ammunition of all calibers were notably seized last week in Guadeloupe. This is an “exceptional case in more than one way”, a “file which will make a mark”, agreed, during a press conference on Friday, Renaud Gaudeul, public prosecutor in Fort- de-France leading the specialized interregional jurisdiction (Jirs) of the Antilles-Guyana.
This case is that of a vast traffic of arms and narcotics mainly in Guadeloupe. Investigators suspect several people of being involved in Guadeloupe but also in Saint-Martin.
What happened last week?
Last week, a vast police operation was organized in several towns in Guadeloupe and in Saint-Martin. It was a crackdown to allow the arrest of suspects for questioning. “It was a major step…
It was really the big phase of arrests in this case, “said the prosecutor.
Twenty-five people were arrested, including a resident of Saint-Martin. He was transferred to the premises of the Saint-Martin gendarmerie and then to those of Pointe-à-Pitre. He was interviewed while in police custody; he was suspected of receiving money laundering. “He was arrested and interrogated because he was dating a person he met recently in Saint-Martin, and who is believed to be heavily involved in trafficking,” explains his lawyer, Pascal Bon. “But after a few hours, the investigators understood that my client had nothing to do with this traffic. It has been completely whitewashed,” he continues. He therefore emerged free from police custody, which was shortened. “It ended after 72 hours when it was supposed to last 96 hours”, specifies the lawyer. And to add that the wife of his client was neither arrested, nor placed in police custody, nor indicted.
Of the 26 people arrested, 14 were indicted for criminal association, drug trafficking, arms trafficking or money laundering, of which 7 were placed in pre-trial detention and 7 under judicial supervision.
The investigation is not yet complete. The Martinique prosecutor said there should be new developments soon. (soualigapost.com)
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