- Investigators from the Ofast (anti-narcotics office) Tuesday seized 350 feet of cannabis in a house in Roubaix.
- In the North, police observe that traffickers are increasingly growing cannabis.
- While significant restrictions apply for crossing borders, local cannabis production has kept prices lower in the North than in other regions of France during containment.
It was intelligence that put the police on the trail of this cannabis plantation. The investigators of the Lille antenna of Ofast (anti-narcotics office) got their hands on Tuesday on 350 plants in a single house located in Roubaix (North), as well as 1,500 euros in cash. The surveillance carried out for two months enabled them to identify a suspect, aged 25, already known to the police for drug trafficking. Placed in police custody, the latter acknowledged the facts. He was referred this Friday to the Lille prosecutor's office and should be tried immediately.
This seizure illustrates a "phenomenon which particularly affects the Hauts-de-France region, and in particular the Nord department and the Lille metropolis", observes the general commissioner Romuald Muller, interregional director of the judicial police of Lille. Last year, its services dismantled fifteen cannabis operations and seized nearly 17,000 feet! In 2019, the police notably discovered 1,000 feet in February in Tourcoing, 3,300 in March in a house in Roubaix, then 8,000 in a warehouse in the same city in early November. "We are dealing with productions that are becoming industrial," emphasizes Romuald Muller.
Shorter distribution channels
If more and more offenders from the Lille region now grow cannabis themselves, it is the Dutch traffickers who set up the first cannabis farms in the north of France. "They were looking for outlets, wanted to settle outside their country in order to set up shorter circuits between production and consumption," notes the boss of the PJ of Lille. "They also wanted to move away from the Dutch authorities who had some experience in the fight against cannabis growing, which was not necessarily the case with the French services a few years ago," he continues.
In addition, these criminal organizations "have the financial scope to mount these kinds of cultures before they even bring in money," says Romuald Muller. Indeed, launching such a production requires investing in expensive adapted equipment. On the other hand, adds the head of the DIPJ of Lille, the Nord department "has large brownfields, vacant commercial premises, warehouses which can be dedicated to this kind of crops and which are not necessarily expensive to the purchase ”. A boon for traffickers, who can discreetly grow cannabis with a high THC level, much sought after and therefore more expensive to buy.
A lower price than elsewhere
The phenomenon is so significant in the North that cannabis trafficking suffered less than in other regions during the confinement. "We found that the price of cannabis, which increased by around 50% in several regions of France, only increased by 20 to 30% here during confinement," reports Romuald Muller. While significant restrictions apply for crossing borders
during this period, consumers in Lille have been able to eat thanks to local production. But the police also know that the traffickers have stored large quantities of drugs in Belgium, the Netherlands or Spain. "From the moment when the situation will return to normal, we risk having an influx of product on the market," fears the boss of the PJ Lille.
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