Police officers discovered on Wednesday in the heart of Paris a clandestine gold foundry in the back room of a photo laboratory.
Jewelry, watches, ingots, gold coins and even diamonds have been found.
Another foundry had already been discovered in another shop owned by the same manager.
EUROPE INFO 1
The police officers made a strange discovery in the heart of the 10th arrondissement of Paris on Wednesday noon, an underground gold foundry in the back of a photo lab.
Inside, they found a real treasure: jewelry, watches, ingots, gold coins and even diamonds, as well as 125,000 euros in cash, and all the paraphernalia to melt this precious loot, suspected to come in particular from snatching, gold.
Another foundry already discovered in a basement
The manager of this photo lab is a 55-year-old Sri Lankan from the Tamil community.
He is suspected of concealment, theft, money laundering in an organized gang and covert work.
It is no coincidence that the police took an interest in this store.
About ten days ago, a first artisanal foundry was discovered in the basement of another of his shops, this time in textiles.
Thursday noon, the manager was in custody.
He is questioned by investigators from the Financial Research and Investigations Brigade (BRIF), who seek to know the final destination of this hoard.
According to information from Europe 1, he is suspected of being close to the Tigers, the Sri Lankan separatists.
It could therefore be a collector for the organization.