Overview

• Marseille prosecutors announced the takedown following coordinated actions with Italian counterparts, Europol and Milan’s financial police.
• Investigators say the network converted drug cash collected in Marseille, Lyon and Paris into gold in Italy, then moved the metal to Turkey, Kosovo and Morocco.
• Roughly €30 million is estimated to have been laundered over about ten months, according to figures cited by the Marseille prosecutor.
• Around twenty people were arrested overall, with seven placed under formal investigation in France for aggravated laundering of narcotics and four arrested in Italy.
• Defense lawyers contest claims of ties to the DZ Mafia, arguing that labeling their clients as members is premature.