French police arrest 15 for drug trafficking near Olympic village
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Over the past months, the police have stepped up operations in Seine-Saint-Denis, where the athletes’ village is located.
PHOTO: AFP
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BOBIGNY, France - French police have arrested 15 people for drug trafficking near the athletes’ village built for the upcoming Olympic Games north of Paris, police sources said on May 29.
They arrested the suspects at their homes early on May 28 and took 14 of them into custody, one of the sources told AFP.
Police and customs officers seized just under 10kg of herbal cannabis and cannabis resin, €20,000 (S$29,000) in cash and 48 mobile phones, the source said.
The operation close to the Olympic village targeted a dealing point that the police have been monitoring in the run-up to the Olympic Games, which begin on July 26, said another police source.
Over the past months, the police have stepped up operations in Seine-Saint-Denis, where the athletes’ village is located.
The village is the single biggest new-build Olympics project, located on a site by the river Seine that is a focus for regeneration efforts in the economically deprived suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis.
More than 14,000 people will be living in the Olympic Village, comprising 82 buildings in the municipalities of Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen and Ile-Saint-Denis, north of Paris.
In a report published in mid-May, a Senate committee of inquiry warned of the growing influence of drug trafficking in France,
According to the senators, drug trafficking in France generates between three and six billion euros annually.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in early-May that she expected a spike in crimes during the Olympic Games in Paris.
“There will be many more tourists,” she told Franceinfo radio.
“This means that the criminals will attack these tourists,” she said, pointing to pick-pocketing, housing scams and other crimes. AFP
