Authorities estimate that nearly eight tonnes of khat transited by commercial air between Israel, France and the Netherlands for eight months. The market value of this traffic reaches 1.2 million euros.
Nine individuals were arrested during a judicial operation carried out by fifty soldiers from the air transport gendarmerie and the judicial center of the national gendarmerie on Tuesday March 14 in the hotel zone of Roissy (Ile-de-France), learned Le Figaro from a source familiar with the matter.
These defendants, arrested in the act, are suspected of having taken part in large-scale drug trafficking between Israel, France and the Netherlands. In the space of eight months, the traffickers are said to have smuggled nearly eight tonnes of khat, a shrub whose leaves have euphoric effects once chewed and ingested. The total value of this illegal trade reaches 1.2 million euros.
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The traffic fed a sales network in Paris and the Netherlands
It was the exploitation of information from investigators from the Air Transport Research Section (SRTA) dating from the summer of 2022 that made it possible to identify the criminal organization. The investigations and surveillance measures carried out by the gendarmes revealed a well-established operating mode. Mules recruited in Israel carried the narcotics in luggage on board a commercial flight taking them to France. The suitcases were then collected on arrival by other accomplices in hotels located near the airport. Their content fed a sales network in Paris and the Netherlands. About fifty air journeys were necessary to transport the eight tons of khat.
The suspects were arrested with in their possession nearly 242 kilograms of khat and 28,000 euros in cash. The defendants were brought before a magistrate on Friday. Contacted by Le Figarothe Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that these investigations had been carried out as part of a preliminary investigation.