Their torrents of tears, if they moved the men, did not influence the judges. Two women aged 55 and 30, mothers, appeared on Monday February 27, 2023 before the Thionville Criminal Court for having transported, detained and imported a large quantity of narcotics. Found guilty, they were sentenced respectively to twelve and ten months’ imprisonment with continued detention, and to jointly pay a customs fine of €139,000.
It was thanks to a customs check carried out at Talange that the events came together. A Volkswagen Golf registered in Belgium with two women on board traveling on the A31 towards Metz attracts the attention of a customs patrol. The driver, a Venezuelan born in the Dominican Republic and living in Antwerp, claims to be the owner of the vehicle which is however registered in the name of a man who appears in an investigation in Belgium. His younger passenger is Brazilian. The two women say they are going to Italy where the fifty-year-old’s boyfriend would live. A meticulous search of the vehicle led to the discovery of a hatch cut into the bodywork inside the trunk, opening onto a 30 cm by 15 cm cache, the opening of which is controlled remotely.
Annemasse toll
Inside, officers seized nearly 5 kilograms of cocaine, 1.5 kilograms of cannabis resin and nearly 2 kilograms of cannabis pollen. The fingerprints found on the goods do not correspond to those of the two women, just as the exploitation of their mobile phones does not reveal any exchange in connection with any drug trafficking but indicates to the investigators that they have limited three times on French territory last January. The GPS, meanwhile, is programmed to calculate their route to a toll located in Annemasse (Haute-Savoie).
The explanations given by the two women remain vague: the youngest – who came to Europe to train in hairdressing – constantly adapting her story to the different versions served to the police by the oldest. Is she under the influence? Probably. There are many inconsistencies. The driver maintains that she is the only one to use the vehicle – “There is only one key, and it is I who have it”, she declares in court – and at the same time ensures that she is unaware of carry narcotics. “I didn’t even know there was a hatch in the trunk,” she defends herself. For the public prosecutor, Brice Partouche, there is no doubt, it is a “transit case”, raising the “professional” side. And to affirm: “These are not consenting victims, they are small hands who provide assistance in the transport of narcotics, and who accept the legal risk”.
