French Drug Dealers Avoid Prison in Drug Importation Case

Three drug dealers in France received suspended sentences for their roles in a conspiracy to resell drugs purchased on the darkweb.

The defendants–residents of Clermont-Ferrand, France–played different roles in the operation, according to prosecutors. The first defendant purchased drugs on the darkweb and provided vendors with his home address where he received the packages. The second defendant used encrypted messaging platforms to contact customers and take their orders. The third defendant then delivered the drugs to the customers.

In July 2020, customs officers at Roissy airport intercepted a suspicious package shipped from the Netherlands. The package had been shipped to the address of the first defendant. Inside the package, customs officers found 300 ecstasy pills. Law enforcement later conducted a controlled delivery of the package at the first defendant’s residence. The defendant, ignoring the general rule about taking ownership of a package from anyone identifying themselves as an employee of the postal service, accepted the package. Customs officers subsequently arrested the man.

In the search that followed the first defendant’s arrest, customs officers found and seized 55 grams of MDMA, 36 grams of cannabis, and 1.5 kilograms of tobacco.

Law enforcement officers questioned the defendant about his involvement in a number of obvious illegal activities. The defendant disclosed he had been ordering drugs from the darkweb since April 2020. Since then, he claimed, he had placed 20 orders. And then he provided investigators with the names of the second and third co-conspirators.

At their recent sentencing hearing, the court passed down suspended sentences of six months in prison. Assuming the defendants meet other sentencing requirements, none of them will serve time behind bars for the drug importation and trafficking charges.