Drug trafficking in Bagnols-sur-Cèze: “I took advantage of his love… This is the second time I've ruined his life”

Me Guilhem Benezech était l’avocat des deux prévenus Midi Libre – C.R.

Ce 27 janvier 2024, les policiers ont saisi 1 kg de résine de cannabis et 14 g de cocaïne dans un appartement du quartier de la Cèze à Bagnols-sur-Cèze. Un couple a été interpellé.

Florence (not her real name), 20, was previously convicted of supplying and selling drugs in 2023 – her only conviction – and has never been imprisoned. The student was supposed to be fitted with an electronic tag and was working in a supermarket in Bagnols-sur-Cèze. She was looking forward to the end of her sentence so she could go to Spain and continue her studies.

He was banned from staying in Bagnols

On January 27, 2025, her dreams collapsed. In Bagnols-sur-Cèze, around 3 p.m., the police, accompanied by a dog specialized in drugs, entered her building in the Cèze district. The dog marked in front of the door of Florence's apartment, on the third floor. The young woman opened the door and gave the police a piece of cannabis. She admitted, without hesitation, to consuming cannabis. The case became complicated for Florence because the police discovered in this apartment a bag containing 1 kg of cannabis resin, a scale and, an aggravating circumstance, in the pocket of a jacket, €4,200.

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The jacket belongs to Hocine, her partner who lives in Bagnols, despite the ban he had been given by the courts. The thirty-year-old has a long criminal record and has been convicted in drug cases. When questioned, the young woman claims that she did not know there was this bag. Hocine, who had obtained a permanent contract in a company, was arrested around 6 p.m. in Pierrelatte (Drôme). The police intervened once again in the apartment in Bagnols-sur-Cèze. They discovered 147 g of cocaine in shoes belonging to Hocine. Questioned by investigators, Hocine explained that he had no choice. Her “creditors” drug dealers asked her to pay her debt or work for them for free as a nanny while also keeping a large sum of money.

“I thought he had stopped”

“I didn't know there were so many drugs in the apartment“, defends the young woman, who appears before the criminal court of Nîmes, this January 29.“And I don't go through his things. I thought he had stopped. He had a permanent contract. I knew he owed money but I never would have thought he would do all this. I loves him.”

Hocine, his companion defends him.“She didn't know. Poor thing, this is the second time I've ruined her life. I'm almost 40. I'm taking responsibility…” “It's rare for drug traffickers to leave 4,000 euros to a nanny,” notes the presiding judge, Jérôme Reynes. “I was panicked… They (the drug traffickers) wouldn't let me go… My past caught up with me, declares the defendant I'm paying the consequences today. I had to repay my debt. But Florence has nothing to do with this trafficking, poor thing. It's my fault. I took advantage of her love, her innocence…”

A ban on staying in the Gard

The prosecutor, Adélaïde Galtier, requested 2 years in prison, a ban on staying in the Gard and a fine against Florence, “a young woman visibly manipulated by a man of nearly 40 years old… But it is impossible that she does not know what was going on in her apartment”. A heavy sentence – eight years in prison, a €10,000 fine and a ban on appearing in the Gard for five years – was requested for Hocine.

” The only concern of my client (Hocine) is that his partner does not go to prison,” recalled Me Guilhem Benezech, the couple's lawyer. Hocine is sentenced to six years in prison and imprisoned. A previous 18-month suspended sentence is revoked. Florence is sentenced to one year in prison and is imprisoned.

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