Six persons have been detained in France and a seventh jailed in Belgium following a joint operation by French gendarmes and Belgian security forces on Tuesday against a drug trafficking network between the two countries.
The operation was conducted “in cooperation with the Belgian internal security forces, within the framework of European mutual legal assistance,” Belga reports, quoting information obtained on Friday by French news agency AFP from the Office of the Public Prosecutor (OPP) of Laval, France.
Carried out with the support of gendarmes from the Mayenne region and the Nantes SWAT team, it involved 80 gendarmes, and led to the arrest of seven persons suspected of trafficking in marijuana and cocaine, OPP Laval said in a statement.
A handgun, 350 grammes of cocaine, clothing and vehicles, together with significant sums of money were seized during the operation.
The suspects are between 26 and 42 years old. Six of them appeared in court in Laval after being held on Thursday and Friday and were placed in detention after being heard.
"The seventh was informed of a European warrant issued for his arrest and has been incarcerated in Belgium,” the Laval public prosecutor stated, adding that three of the defendants had prior drug trafficking convictions.