Gendarmes have broken up a round-the-clock drug delivery network supplying Antibes and Cannes, with five suspects now in pre-trial detention after appearing before the Grasse criminal court.
The operation, led by the Cannes research brigade under the authority of the Grasse public prosecutor's office, concluded on Tuesday, June 17 after several months of investigation. Around fifty gendarmes took part in coordinated raids across multiple sites, deploying what the gendarmerie described as some of the most complex investigative techniques available to them.
Searches turned up 3kg of cannabis resin, 600g of cannabis herb, 400g of cocaine and 500g of synthetic drugs, along with €64,000 in cash, which investigators say reflects the scale of profits the network was generating.
Gendarmes described the operation as a highly structured business, built around a manager who took orders, a team that prepared individual doses, and a network of delivery drivers who took the product directly to customers. The network is understood to have supplied the entire periphery of Antibes and Cannes, operating continuously rather than on a casual or occasional basis.
It is the latest in a string of similar busts on the Riviera this year. Networks of this kind, often described by investigators as "narco-livraison" operations, have become a recurring target for gendarmerie and police units across the Alpes-Maritimes, with comparable cases dismantled in the region in recent months.
Six suspects in total were brought before the Grasse criminal court on Friday 19 June under the fast-track comparution immédiate procedure. According to France 3 Régions, five of the six were placed in pre-trial detention pending judgment.
Blue Coast News will follow the case as it proceeds through the Grasse courts.