Simon Piel

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French senators warn that France is 'submerged by drug trafficking'

After six months of investigation, a report by a Sénat committee on drug trafficking published its conclusions on Tuesday, May 14. It presents a worrying assessment of the situation, along with proposals for reform.

Published on May 14, 2024, at 11:08 am (Paris) Simon Piel Antoine Albertini Thomas Saintourens

Visual Story

Video investigation: The new methods of drug traffickers in France

To understand how hundreds of kilos of cocaine arrive at French ports, Le Monde investigated a drug trafficking network that had almost everything it needed to succeed: shell companies, false identities and chemists. But several mistakes led to its downfall.

Published on April 30, 2024, at 7:00 pm (Paris), updated on May 1, 2024, at 12:08 pm Liselotte Mas, Marceau Bretonnier, Simon Piel, Thomas Saintourens, Le Monde's video investigation team and Sinead McCausland infographic

Visual Story Subscribers only

Cons, Covid and cocaine: The fall of the 'sugar cartel'

Overdose. France under the influence | Part 1. An investigation by Le Monde has found that French and Colombian drug traffickers mastered a game-changing process for smuggling narcotics into Europe, by chemically infusing sugar with cocaine.

Published on April 30, 2024, at 12:33 pm (Paris), updated on April 30, 2024, at 1:10 pm Liselotte Mas Simon Piel Thomas Saintourens infographic

From the Archive Subscribers only

The 95-day manhunt that led to the recapture of French escape artist Rédoine Faïd

Le Monde recounts how Rédoine Faïd spectacularly escaped from prison in a helicopter in July 2018 and how the police recaptured him three months later. His trial opens Tuesday at a Paris court.

Published on September 5, 2023, at 11:44 am (Paris) Simon Piel

Long Read Subscribers only

The Mocro Maffia's French connection

The kidnapping of a Dutch drug baron by competitors brought to light his contacts with three French criminals, who set out to find him.

Published on August 18, 2023, at 6:00 pm (Paris) Thomas Saintourens Simon Piel

News Subscribers only

Drug trafficking in France: Perpetrators and victims of violence are increasingly younger

According to an unpublished report based on a compilation of information from territorial intelligence, just over 60% of the people injured or killed in drug-related shootings from the beginning of 2023 were under the age of 25.

Published on May 24, 2023, at 12:50 pm (Paris) Thomas Saintourens Simon Piel

News

Guaranteed Mafia-free Italian restaurant opens in Paris

La Poesia uses produce supplied by the Italian association Libera Terra, which cultivates farmland confiscated from organized crime gangs.

Published on November 28, 2022, at 8:00 pm (Paris), updated on April 28, 2023, at 11:36 am Simon Piel

News

Cocaine trafficking network between France, Belgium, Spain and Dubai dismantled

Suspected of importing more than 2 tonnes of cocaine into Europe between January and April 2021, the network was run by two Moroccans and a Frenchman from Dubai.

Published on November 28, 2022, at 11:55 am (Paris), updated on November 28, 2022, at 6:53 pm Simon Piel Thomas Saintourens

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The unresolved trial of Montenegro's banana baron or cocaine king

When he was arrested in the summer of 2021 with his daughter, after the seizure of 1,206 kilograms of cocaine in a banana shipment, Serbian-Montenegrin fruit and vegetable importer Budimir Krstovic denied any involvement in the drug trade.

Published on August 3, 2022, at 4:39 am (Paris), updated on August 3, 2022, at 11:03 am Thomas Saintourens Simon Piel

Long Read Subscribers only

Trafficking jewelry and gold: A family affair

In recent months, several investigations have uncovered jewelry and gold trafficking networks between the Paris region and Belgium with similar ways of operating. It is an increasingly professional illegal trade.

Published on August 1, 2022, at 4:00 am (Paris), updated on August 1, 2022, at 8:27 am Simon Piel Thomas Saintourens

In Depth Subscribers only

New synthetic drugs are on the rise across Europe

New psychoactive substances, created in laboratories, sold online and shipped via parcel post, are particularly difficult to control for customs and health authorities.

Published on July 29, 2022, at 3:17 am (Paris), updated on July 29, 2022, at 9:48 am Simon Piel Thomas Saintourens

Interview Subscribers only

Fighting organized crime: 'Traffickers who think they are untouchable must understand that they are not'

In an interview with 'Le Monde,' the director of Cyberdouane explains how his team is facing increasingly sophisticated trafficking methods.

Published on July 8, 2022, at 2:37 pm (Paris), updated on July 8, 2022, at 2:37 pm Simon Piel Thomas Saintourens

News Subscribers only

At the heart of Europol and Eurojust, two institutions united against organized crime

The two police and judicial cooperation organizations of the European Union are tracking organized crime in its various forms. Thanks to secretive methods, investigators are achieving encouraging results despite the many challenges.

Published on June 25, 2022, at 12:00 pm (Paris), updated on June 25, 2022, at 12:00 pm Simon Piel Thomas Saintourens

Investigation Subscribers only

How the port of Antwerp became a trafficking epicenter

The second part of Le Monde's two part investigation looks at how the huge Belgian port has recently become the main entry point for cocaine onto the European market. Police said they are powerless in the face of certain criminal organizations.

Published on May 22, 2022, at 8:00 pm (Paris), updated on May 23, 2022, at 2:21 pm Simon Piel Thomas Saintourens

Investigation Subscribers only

The mafia's grisly advances in the Netherlands and Belgium

In the first of a two-part investigation, 'Le Monde' looks at the rise of organized crime in these two countries, where powerful organizations control drug trafficking against a backdrop of increasingly extreme violence. 'Judges, prosecutors, families, journalists... Everyone is afraid,' said a lawyer.

Published on May 21, 2022, at 8:00 pm (Paris), updated on May 21, 2022, at 8:00 pm Thomas Saintourens Simon Piel

Investigation Subscribers only

The Serbian mafia's 'house of horror'

The discovery of a 'house of horror' near Belgrade, where Serbian mobsters tortured their rivals, shows that criminal organizations are ready to copy the brutality of Mexican cartels to gain control of drug trafficking in the Balkans.

Published on May 20, 2022, at 12:25 pm (Paris), updated on May 20, 2022, at 12:26 pm Simon Piel Thomas Saintourens

Interview Subscribers only

Clotilde Champeyrache: 'For mafias, becoming legitimate is an end in itself'

For the French mafia specialist, mafias are different from the rest of organized crime in that they are rooted in the notion of 'territory,' succession and an ability to penetrate the legal economic sphere in order to hold states to ransom.

Published on May 20, 2022, at 10:00 am (Paris), updated on April 28, 2023, at 11:37 am Gaïdz Minassian Simon Piel Thomas Saintourens

Long Read Subscribers only

International sting operation dismantles cocaine trafficking in bags of sugar from Colombia

Twenty-two tons of sugar were seized in the Paris region and eighteen people were arrested in France, Spain, and Dubai.

Published on May 12, 2022, at 12:12 am (Paris), updated on May 12, 2022, at 12:12 am Simon Piel Antoine Albertini

Investigation Subscribers only

French mayor charged with complicity in drug trafficking maintains her innocence

Mélanie Boulanger, the mayor of a small town near Rouen, has been charged along with one of her deputies for 'complicity in drug trafficking.' 'Le Monde' reveals the story behind the indictment.

Published on April 28, 2022, at 6:36 pm (Paris), updated on April 28, 2022, at 6:37 pm Antoine Albertini Simon Piel

Investigation Subscribers only

On the French Riviera, the discreet French 'cousins' of the Calabrian mafia

Various criminal investigations suggest that 'Ndrangheta clans have strong connections in southern France. Despite a successful joint police operation, Italian magistrates believe that France is slow to evaluate the threat.

Published on April 28, 2022, at 11:13 am (Paris), updated on April 28, 2023, at 11:37 am Simon Piel Thomas Saintourens

News Subscribers only

Specter of human trafficking looms over Ukrainian refugees

As more than 4.9 million Ukrainians have fled their country, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and NGOs warn of criminal networks seeking to exploit vulnerable evacuees, especially women.

Published on April 20, 2022, at 2:26 am (Paris), updated on April 20, 2022, at 9:14 am Thomas Saintourens Simon Piel

Investigation Subscribers only

From boxing to drug dealing: Daniel Kinahan, an Irish clan leader on the ropes

On the run in Dubai, the boxing promoter is on the radar of international police services for drug trafficking and money laundering using the noble art of boxing.

Published on April 14, 2022, at 3:13 pm (Paris), updated on April 15, 2022, at 12:24 pm Simon Piel Thomas Saintourens

Investigation

The hidden finances of the French elite

From our archives. Artists, politicians, businessmen are among the French clients of HSBC PB.

Published on March 11, 2022, at 5:03 pm (Paris), updated on March 28, 2022, at 2:56 pm Simon Piel Alexandre Léchenet Anne Michel