The capture of “Bibi” had taken on the appearance of a trophy. At the beginning of November 2023, a few days after a lightning visit by the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, to the United Arab Emirates, the local police announced the arrest of the French drug trafficker Abdelkader Bouguettaia, known to his relatives and investigators, under the nickname from “Bibi”. Considered by the Anti-Narcotics Office (Ofast) as a “target of priority interest”, this 36-year-old man, against whom Interpol had issued a red notice, was sentenced in May 2023 to nine years in prison by the Lille court. He is also the protagonist of several ongoing investigations.
Abdelkader Bouguettaia, subject to a national arrest warrant since December 10, 2021 and a European arrest warrant since February 7, 2022, was wanted in the context of an investigation file from the national court responsible for fight against organized crime (Junalco) following the discovery, in July 2020, of 2.5 tonnes of cocaine transported from the port of Cartagena (Colombia) to the port of Le Havre, where the drug was discovered hidden in a cargo of sugar.
The satisfaction of the French authorities has transformed into bitterness. In mid-December, Emirati justice released the Le Havre trafficker, according to information confirmed in World by the Paris prosecutor’s office, which specifies that “the elements with a view to his surrender were handed over by the French authorities, but this could not be organized within the legal period of forty days, at the end of which he was released”.
About-face
The Emirati judicial authorities justify their refusal to hand over the detainee to France on the grounds that they have not received all the documents necessary to carry out this procedure. An argument which hardly convinces the French authorities, disappointed by such an about-face but not surprised nonetheless. Indeed, relations are chaotic in terms of judicial cooperation, and the effective implementation of extraditions is marred by incomprehension, even shrouded in mystery.
“Rich exchanges around our security and judicial cooperation, the fight against drug traffickers”had nevertheless enthused, in a tweet, the Minister of the Interior, to comment on his hopefully fruitful October 25 visit. “The minister and his counterpart [Saif Ben Zayed Al Nahyane, vice-premier ministre et ministre de l’intérieur] underlined the quality of the bilateral relationship”, had also reported those around him on his return… But the coup of the arrest of the fugitive from Le Havre did not resist the intransigence of the Emirati judicial authorities.
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