Marseille (AFP)

On vacation in the Var, a 50-year-old had been killed by a bullet lost in a washing station in Ollioules during a clan war between traffickers who had made two other deaths: a month later, several suspects were arrested, including one of the alleged murderers.

The public prosecutor of Marseille announced Friday the arrest in the Var of nine people involved "to varying degrees by the elements of investigation, including one of the alleged perpetrators".

On Sunday, July 28, around 8:30 pm, two men between the ages of 29 and 30, known to the police and the judiciary, were shot dead in a Ollioules washing station, as well as a 58-year-old tourist, a victim collateral of the shooting. Her husband was also injured.

Five of the suspects were presented during the day to a judge and one of them was indicted "for intentional homicide with organized gangs, attempted premeditated murder by organized gangs and criminal conspiracy for the purpose of commission of crimes, "said the prosecutor of the Republic of Marseille, Xavier Tarabeux.

The prosecutor's office has requested remand in custody. The other four people arrested Tuesday were released. On the occasion of the searches, 20 kilos of cannabis resin were also seized.

"The investigators of the antenna of the judicial police of Toulon, seized of the facts, could quickly determine that this murderous settlement of accounts was in the context of a conflict between Var traffickers of narcotics", recalls Friday in a statement the floor.

- Local drug market -

The 50-year-old couple from Vesoul (Haute-Saône), collateral victims of the shooting, had just arrived in the commune, in their second home. Their children had joined them for three weeks of vacation. Catherine Santos had set up a cheese reprocessing business in Mailley-Chazelot. She had also been a consular judge at the Vesoul Commercial Court. Her husband is product manager of a steel wire manufacturing company in Conflandey.

Near the bodies of the two men targeted by two gunmen, the investigators had found a bag containing a 7.65 mm automatic pistol, 200 grams of ready-made cannabis resin and cash. The two fencers sought after by the investigators were heavily armed, considering the number of casings found on the spot: 29 cases of 7.62 mm, a caliber used in Kalashnikov-type assault rifles, 15 cases of 9 mm caliber, fired by an automatic pistol or a submachine gun had thus been discovered.

Arrived from behind the site, after crossing the small river crossing Ollioules, the shooters had left no chance to their targets, who had not had time to escape.

A source close to the investigation had said that the shooting was linked to "a war between three clans fighting over the local drug market", with epicenter city Berthe, La-Seyne-Sur-Mer, where originated the two slaughtered men and located at 1,500 m hardly places of the drama.

The first victim was known for acts of violence and aggravated violence. The second was for drug-related offenses, which resulted in her being sentenced to 18 months in prison, partially suspended in 2017.

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