That Monday in October, the traffickers did not even return the container. They removed it from the French port of Le Havre, cut it open on the side of a road and took away its valuable and illegal contents.
“Several testimonies saw some guys running away with sports bags, probably full of cocaine. There is no doubt about it”explains a police officer.
“Normally, they returned the container that they had emptied to the port. They said they were wrong. This time they left everything in that place.”Add.
Two weeks earlier, a group of individuals had entered the transit warehouse in this town in northwestern France.
Despite the stupefaction of their workers, they took bags from a container and left. It was probably cocaine.
These drug deliveries often lead to moments of tension.
This was the case in April, when some traffickers crashed their car into a police cordon. The agents fired at the criminals, who fled, although one of them was arrested.
“This happened in broad daylight, in the middle of traffic”recalls an agent from Le Havre.
“Trafficking generates so much money that small traffickers do not hesitate for a moment to make dangerous decisions”Add.
These episodes worthy of a crime novel have multiplied in recent months in Le Havre.
The port of this Normandy city, located at the mouth of the Seine, became the main entry point for South American cocaine into France
In 2021, they intercepted up to 10 tons of drugs in the three million containers that arrived at Le Havre, which represented an increase of 164% in one year, an absolute record.
Bribes to enter the port
As happened with other port cities in Europe, such as Rotterdam in the Netherlands or Algeciras in Spain, the growing cocaine trade in Le Havre has attracted criminals and mafia networks.
The activity of the 2,200 port workers was disrupted by corruption, threats and violence.
“No one enters the port who wants to”explains a policeman, who assures that “To get the drug out, traffickers need to weave complicity, first of all, among the stevedores”a well-organized group with a strong presence of unions, such as the CGT.
The names of some stevedores appeared in the wiretaps of the judicial police and several of them were sentenced for “collaborating” with traffickers.
One of them explained to his lawyer how they managed to corrupt him: “Before, I recovered packets of tobacco or perfumes to resell them and that allowed me to earn between 200 or 300 euros each month. But one day some guys came to see me and told me to get some bags for them and that they would pay me 1,000 euros (similar amount in dollars) for each one of them. That’s how it all started”.
The investigation revealed the scale of bribes from drug traffickers: 10,000 euros for leaving an access card, 50,000 for moving a container and up to 75,000 for “authorize” his departure.
Threats and kidnappings
“Some stevedores give in to earn more money, but most do so due to threats and pressure”explains the lawyer Valérie Giard, who represents several port workers.
“The traffickers go to see them when they leave school or a cafe and show them photos of their family. So, they tell them: ‘Either you do this or you will have problems’”adds the lawyer.
“When they come into contact with drug trafficking, they can’t get out of there anymore”the Mint.
And those who resist these bribes often suffer the unscrupulous methods of drug traffickers.
Pierre (name changed) was kidnapped in June 2018 near his home. When he was found several hours later, his face was swollen and his calves pockmarked with screwdriver wounds.
This 54-year-old stevedore told the police that his kidnappers asked him for several million euros and threatened him saying: “You are someone important and we know where you work. You can get us several ‘boxes’”.
According to confidants, they threatened him because “refused to work” for a dealer
Some 20 Le Havre dockers have been kidnapped in the past five years, according to authorities.
fear on the pier
“The kidnapping of port agents became the local sport par excellence”Giard alerts.
One of them had a tragic ending. On June 12, 2020, the body of Allan Affagard was found behind a school on the outskirts of the Norman town.
This 40-year-old stevedore, affiliated with the CGT, was not a nobody in the port. In 2018, he had been indicted for allegedly facilitating the removal of a drug container, an accusation that Affagard has always denied.
His wife explained to the police that, the night before his body was discovered, three hooded men forcibly took him from his home, after having denounced that he had received “threatening messages”.
Since then, three men have been charged with “criminal association”, but the suspects in this murder remain at large.
“The press saw in this case the arrival of drug-trafficking violence to our shores”says Guillaume Routel, one of the dockers’ lawyers.
“It is surely exaggerated, but the entire port handling subsidiary feels in danger”Add.
“Everyone is anxious in the port”acknowledges Alain Le Maire, CGT delegate of Le Havre customs agents.
“The traffickers observe us with binoculars or with drones. Now, when we control a container, we do it protected by other comrades armed with assault rifles”it states.
‘A huge pressure’
Following the uproar caused by the Affagard case, security at the port was tightened.
“Safety and protection are our main concerns”highlights the direction of this infrastructure, which allocated a million euros to install new cameras, reinforce access systems and increase the number of security guards.
The traffic, however, continues and more than 8.5 tons of cocaine were intercepted in 2022 in Le Havre, according to a policeman’s calculation.
“Advances have been made, but we cannot fool ourselves. The port continues to be a transit point for drugs.”affirms a customs agent resigned.
“Now there is less complicity on the part of the stevedores. They have understood that they were people stronger than them.”explains a policeman.
“But the pressure continues to be enormous and weighs on all the players in the port. If we don’t watch, we could find ourselves in the same situation as Antwerp or Rotterdam.”he warns.
This possibility raises great concern in France, considering that a Moroccan mafia network is suspected of having executed a journalist and a lawyer in the Dutch port city, while in the Belgian the traffickers threatened a justice minister.
“The situation can still get worse here”admits the prosecutor of Le Havre, Bruno Dieudonné.
(With information from AFP)
Source: Gestion
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
