3792) Trafficking, Money Laundering & Extortion: Armenian Family At The Head of a Criminal Organization

An Armenian family from Béziers who was at the head of a criminal organization, was arrested during a large dragnet, launched on Monday, by the gendarmerie including the GIGN.

The GIGN was engaged during this spectacular operation.

A major crackdown was launched Monday simultaneously in the Hérault and in other regions by many investigation services, of which the Biterrois was the central point, revealed this Friday Raphaël Balland, the public prosecutor of Béziers. Narrative.

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In July 2020, a preliminary investigation into cocaine trafficking located in Montblanc, between Béziers and Pézenas was opened by the research brigade of the Pézenas gendarmerie company under the authority of the Béziers prosecutor's office. Thirty users of narcotics were identified. In an attempt to apprehend the suppliers of this traffic, the prosecution requested the opening of a judicial investigation on November 16, 2020, of the counts of drug trafficking (cocaine and cannabis) and arms trafficking.

Eight investigators
At the beginning of January 2021, a special unit made up of eight investigators was set up under the authority of the investigating magistrate, associating the research section of Montpellier, the departmental grouping of the gendarmerie of Hérault, as well as the Interministerial Research Group, Montpellier GIR. As the investigations progressed, referral to the examining magistrate was gradually extended by the prosecution to include acts of cigarette trafficking, scams, extortion, association of criminals and money laundering in an organized gang, due to the discovery of elements making it possible to suspect the existence of a structured organization engaged in several illegal activities under the authority of several members of an Armenian family with a storefront in Béziers: drug and cigarette trafficking feeding the nightlife, as well as several local networks in Pézenas and Béziers; obtaining and reselling category B or category A weapons to individuals who wish to acquire them; scams through the resale of vehicles with odometers tampered with by the managers of three garages located in Vendres and Béziers, with nearly 150 victims identified.

“The heads of the network imposed their law, not hesitating to use violence and threats against those who were notably racketeers and who feared reprisals. Many victims were afraid to denounce this family and their accomplices, ”indicates a source close to the investigation at Metropolitan. A real mafia organization had been set up.

The committed GIGN
Given the extent of the investigations, the three investigating magistrates of the Béziers judicial court were jointly seized last January. Monday, a vast operation of arrests was implemented by the national gendarmerie mobilizing 280 soldiers including the GIGN descended from Paris, local branches of the GIGN, including that of Orange, all the surveillance and intervention platoons -Psig- of the Hérault group (Castelnau-le-Lez, Lodève, Lunel, Béziers and Pézenas) and several other units outside the department from Millau, Paris, Marseille with the reinforcement of a helicopter from the Montpellier air detachment and five canine teams, as well as the National Specialized Institute for the Examination of Weapons.

€77,000 in cash
Twenty suspects who had been discreetly watched for several months were arrested in Béziers, Millau, Sète, Vincennes and Montpellier and placed in custody. About twenty other people likely to have participated in these events were also heard in the context of free hearings. The searches led to the seizure of 16 long weapons, 18 handguns, numerous ammunition of all calibres, 300 g of cocaine, 540 cartons of contraband cigarettes and €77,000 in cash.

Foreclosures
At the same time, with the support of the GIR, procedures were initiated for the seizure of movable and immovable property as well as bank accounts for a total value estimated at more than €1.3 million . Until this Friday at the end of their police custody, 16 people were presented to the investigating magistrates and indicted; 15 of them were remanded in custody by the liberty and detention judge, the JLD. The investigations are continuing, in particular to exploit the elements seized in the search, and to allow the lawyers of the persons under investigation – who benefit from the presumption of innocence – to examine the very numerous elements of the procedure. A long instruction begins.

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