A vast investigation is underway into the Marseille branch of France’s national anti-narcotics agency, Ofast, following allegations of large-scale corruption and drug trafficking. The investigation, triggered by revelations from a police reservist, has uncovered a potential cocaine trafficking network, informants allegedly paid with kilos of cocaine, and the mishandling of drugs and money.
The alleged scheme involved the creation of a cocaine trafficking network from scratch, all under the lax oversight of local anti-drug police chiefs. The goal was to orchestrate a career-defining bust of Mohamed Djeha, also known as “Mimo,” a major drug trafficker in France. However, investigators believe the Marseille police crossed numerous ethical and legal boundaries in their pursuit.
Initially, authorities attempted to portray the case as a routine corruption matter involving a few rogue officers and missing drugs. However, a more than 3,000-page case file, reviewed by Le Monde, reveals a different reality, according to the investigation conducted by France’s internal police oversight body, the IGPN, and now under the authority of the national jurisdiction for organized crime.
The investigation began after the American Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) provided Ofast with intelligence in late 2022: a shipment of several hundred kilos of cocaine was set to cross the Atlantic, concealed within two containers of bananas destined for Marseille. The Colombian exporter, operating through an import-export company, was known to American investigators as a seasoned trafficker.
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