The drugs were neatly stashed in the spare tire of the car. Nearly 8 kg of cocaine and 12 kg of heroin packaged in egg cells. The driver of the Toyota was intercepted by customs officials on Sunday May 14, on the A31, near Kanfen in Moselle, near the Luxembourg border.
He was arriving from the Netherlands and returning home to Italy. He knew he was carrying drugs but said he didn’t know how much. A sponsor paid him 5,000 euros to make the trip. “Given the sum, you could imagine that you were entrusted with a certain volume”, notes the president of the Thionville court. The defendant was tried two days after his arrest, on his 52nd birthday.
One million euros for resale on the French market
The value of the 20 kg of drugs seized is close to one million euros for resale on the French market, according to the Drug Addiction Observatory in its 2022 report.
The Italian says he was making the trip for the third time in a month, always taking different routes, with his own car. Through the voice of his translator, he explains that he accepted the transport to face financial difficulties. “Despair made me make mistakes”, recognizes the father, commercial in an electricity company and unknown to French justice. “Few are those who do this for political or religious reasons…”, concedes the president.
The court will follow the requisitions of the prosecution and sentence the defendant, Massimo Salerno, to two years in prison. He adds a ban on appearing in France for ten years. The car is confiscated and the man will have to pay a fine of 442,830 euros, claimed by customs. He was taken into custody on the spot. Legal provisions exist to allow him to serve his sentence in his country.
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