This “exceptional seizure” represents “nearly 10% of the heroin seized in France since the beginning of the year”, said the public prosecutor of Thionville, Brice Partouche, in a statement.
In addition to the heroin, 4 kilos of cocaine, 17 kilos of products for cutting drugs, 115,000 euros in cash, 4 vehicles and an automatic gun were also seized from the individual’s home in Hayange in the Moselle department.
The operation, carried out by the Thionville research brigade and the Metz research section, was made possible by the “cracking of codes by the national gendarmerie” of the Dutch encrypted telecommunications application Encrochat.
The authorities were thus able to “take note of the contents of this message”, which has enabled waves of arrests “in a very large number of cases” since June 2020 under the aegis of the Lille Interregional Specialised Jurisdiction (JIRS).
In September, an operation carried out in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Hungary and Slovakia following the interception of communications on Encrochat had already led to the arrest of 17 people involved in a criminal drug trafficking network.
