A ton of cocaine was seized in November 2017 in Lacanau, Gironde, after an investigation in which the French and American authorities had closely collaborated.

The trial of 24 traffickers is being held until January 15 in Bordeaux, while the defense is asking for clarification on the investigations.

This is the legal epilogue of a scenario worthy of the American series

Narcos

: a trial of 24 people of several nationalities is currently being held under high security before the Criminal Court of Bordeaux.

They are accused of having participated in a huge international cocaine trafficking, which ended with a record seizure in November 2017 in Lacanau of more than a ton of drugs.

For months, American agents and their French PJ counterparts infiltrated this international traffic.

Agents undercover

To transport these kilos of drugs to France, the Colombians initially meet Diego, thinking they are dealing with a logistician who will help them.

In reality, Diego is an undercover French police officer, himself supervised by an agent of the American Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), who also acts undercover.

This trap will lead to these arrests and the seizure of more than a ton of cocaine in a villa in Lacanau.

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The people arrested were "surprised" and "somewhat fascinated by the ease with which they could participate in a drug transaction without having to pay anything", explains Me Édouard Martial, lawyer for one of the warned.

"For them, this mystery remained. That's why we wonder: where are Diego, where are the undercover agents? Why not summon them and have them appear behind a one-way mirror and an identity of course hidden, and possibly asking them questions that the people we defend have. "

A "consequence" on sentences?

"It is very difficult to differentiate between what is on their own initiative and what is at the instigation of the monster of inquiry as we are presented with it today", continues Me Édouard Martial.

"We're not going any further, but that has consequences, especially on the penalty."

For this extraordinary trial, which takes place until Friday, January 15, interpreters continuously translate the words of the hearing into Spanish, Italian, Albanian or even Turkish, for the 24 defendants.