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- 02/06/2025
Emission TV Faites entrer l'Accusé - La French Connection
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/FelaOfficiel
Site officiel de l'Emission : https://www.france.tv/france-2/faites-entrer-l-accuse/
Chaine Youtube de l'Emission : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrjIfq-eWK9BTUhPgQ2IFFg
Historique et Descriptif de l'Affaire French Connection
Dans les années 1960, l'Amérique est inondée de drogue en provenance essentiellement de Marseille.
La ville méditerranéenne est alors une plaque tournante du trafic et abrite les parrains de la French connection.
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/FelaOfficiel
Site officiel de l'Emission : https://www.france.tv/france-2/faites-entrer-l-accuse/
Chaine Youtube de l'Emission : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrjIfq-eWK9BTUhPgQ2IFFg
Historique et Descriptif de l'Affaire French Connection
Dans les années 1960, l'Amérique est inondée de drogue en provenance essentiellement de Marseille.
La ville méditerranéenne est alors une plaque tournante du trafic et abrite les parrains de la French connection.
Catégorie
📺
TVTranscription
00:00:00The French Connection.
00:00:01Pour tout le monde, c'est le titre d'un film d'américain detective.
00:00:04Mais dans les 60s et les 70s, dans les États-Unis, et particulièrement en New York, c'est un drame.
00:00:12Chaque jour, des enfants américains mourent d'américains causés d'extrêmement high-quality héroïne.
00:00:19Made in France, straight from Marseille.
00:00:22Walter Vandermeer, par exemple, était 12 ans.
00:00:25Il était mort dans un jardin de Haarlem sur un Sunday.
00:00:30With two small bags of heroin, a syringe, and a spoon.
00:00:34Peter Goodman was 17.
00:00:37He died of an overdose at a party in Queens.
00:00:40In March 1970, in New York, there had already been, since the beginning of the year, 179 deaths from heroin overdose.
00:00:48That's why, one day, the U.S. administration said to France,
00:00:51That's enough. Now you're taking the problem head-on.
00:00:54At the end of the 60s, the number of drug addicts in the United States was estimated at nearly 300,000.
00:01:03And the drug of the moment is heroin.
00:01:07We shoot up at parties, nightclubs, or simply at home.
00:01:10And sometimes even in the street when you're at the end of your rope.
00:01:15This killer drug doesn't come from Asia or South America as it does today.
00:01:21It comes straight from France, from Marseille to be precise.
00:01:25This is what we call the French Connection.
00:01:28Every year, heroin from France kills 6,000 to 8,000 young Americans,
00:01:35who are picked up every morning and taken to the morgue.
00:01:38Until one day, President Nixon slammed his fist on the table.
00:01:43America's public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse.
00:01:49In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new all-out offensive.
00:01:58In fact, when President Nixon gets upset,
00:02:03the Americans have had French heroin dealers in their sights for years.
00:02:08For example, in New York in 1962,
00:02:11agents of the American Narcotics Bureau arrest a man in the street
00:02:14on suspicion of smuggling 50 kilos of pure heroin.
00:02:19This man is not just anyone.
00:02:21He's a French TV host, Jacques Angélvin, 47.
00:02:24The Angélvin Affair would become a film,
00:02:30The French Connection,
00:02:31starring Gene Hackman and a certain Sonny Grasso,
00:02:34who at the time was playing his first role,
00:02:36on a subject he knew well since he had previously been a lieutenant
00:02:39in the Narcotic Bureau, New York's narcotics department.
00:02:44One day in 1962, his phone rang.
00:02:46An informant tells him of the imminent delivery of heroin from Marseille.
00:02:53The traffickers would meet that evening at a restaurant run by the mob.
00:02:57So, we went and made observations of a diner
00:03:07that these people owned and worked at.
00:03:11And then we saw people come with suitcases into the diner.
00:03:17And what they were obviously doing is bringing money
00:03:19for the shipment that was arriving now.
00:03:23In the restaurant, Lt. Sonny Grasso spots faces he knows well.
00:03:31François Scaglia, a hitman from Marseille
00:03:33who frequents the New York underworld.
00:03:35Patsy and Anthony Fuca, two New York drug dealers.
00:03:39And finally, Jean Géant, a French businessman in his 60s.
00:03:44Grasso witnesses the live handover of a briefcase stuffed with dollars.
00:03:49Clearly, these four are up to something big.
00:03:51He decides to bug them.
00:04:00Scaglia kept getting a call from the guy who had the television show,
00:04:05Angevon.
00:04:07He was very careful, and I heard them say,
00:04:09they never said drugs or kilos,
00:04:12but they were speaking, we're here.
00:04:14We're waiting now to meet the other people.
00:04:16We're going to meet them, you know, blah, blah, blah, like that.
00:04:19Lieutenant Grasso immediately called Paris to inquire about this Angevon,
00:04:24who was said to be famous in France.
00:04:29Jacques Angevon is a television presenter
00:04:32whose activities allow him to move beyond all suspicion.
00:04:35Angevon is a variety show host,
00:04:42a sort of guy luxe, only less famous and less rich.
00:04:47In nightclubs, he likes to spend and gamble,
00:04:50but everyone knows he has money problems,
00:04:52including François Scalia,
00:04:54who went to see him and offered him a deal.
00:04:56He will drive a Buick full of heroin to the United States,
00:04:59and he will receive $10,000.
00:05:07Angevon's money worries were well known,
00:05:09so he was the perfect bait for a little transport.
00:05:18January 10th, 1962,
00:05:20the ship United States enters New York Harbor.
00:05:24The Buick is unloaded.
00:05:25Lieutenant Grasso and his team take in all the action,
00:05:30but for the moment, nothing is being done.
00:05:34We observe.
00:05:37We followed Angevon and this guy, Scaglia.
00:05:42We followed them to the Waldorf.
00:05:46Angevon settles into a suite in the palace,
00:05:49and clearly, he is waiting for instructions.
00:05:51Three days later,
00:05:55he drives the Buick to a small garage in Lower Manhattan,
00:05:59tailed by the cops of the Narcotics Bureau,
00:06:02a garage owned by the Fuca brothers.
00:06:04Clearly, this is where the drugs must be unloaded.
00:06:09Angevon leaves the Buick and takes off in a cab,
00:06:12still followed by the police officers.
00:06:14There, cautious,
00:06:15he changes hotels for a more discreet establishment.
00:06:18Lieutenant Grasso has remained in hiding near the garage.
00:06:24For two days, nothing moves.
00:06:27Nobody touches the car,
00:06:28and then the Buick pulls out of the garage.
00:06:30At the wheel, the two Fuca brothers,
00:06:32and tailing them, the cops from Narcotics.
00:06:36The Fucus park the car in a quiet street,
00:06:39then leave.
00:06:42Out of the car,
00:06:43and we stood back and were watching the car.
00:06:45Figured when they come back,
00:06:46we're going to take them to the next place.
00:06:48They never came back to the car,
00:06:50and when we went to get something to eat,
00:06:52maybe five, six o'clock in the morning,
00:06:54when we came back,
00:06:55the car was gone.
00:06:59A little light,
00:07:00the cops from Narcotics,
00:07:02because now the car and the dope are gone.
00:07:05And the Buick is neither in the Fuca brothers' garage,
00:07:08nor in their home.
00:07:10Grasso has only one option left.
00:07:12Don't let go of Angelvin.
00:07:15Three days pass.
00:07:16Nothing.
00:07:20And we were across the street with binoculars,
00:07:23watching.
00:07:25We got warrants to execute
00:07:27if we found anything.
00:07:28We had them.
00:07:29And he came out of the garage
00:07:40with Skagria and Angelvin,
00:07:43the Buick,
00:07:43and we pulled him over to give him a summons,
00:07:47because he went through a red light.
00:07:50Grasso asks the two Frenchmen for their papers,
00:07:53but they say they don't understand English.
00:07:55They ask for an interpreter.
00:07:58The policeman then takes everyone to the station,
00:08:00and while waiting for the interpreter,
00:08:02has the Buick searched.
00:08:04The specialist engineer searched the car,
00:08:06but found nothing.
00:08:07On the other hand,
00:08:10the New York crime lab determined from spectrographic particle analysis
00:08:14that the car contained heroin.
00:08:15Sufficient proof for American legislation.
00:08:29Traces of drugs and the liquor are enough to take Angelvin into custody.
00:08:33But when confronted by Lieutenant Grasso,
00:08:37Angelvin refuses to speak English,
00:08:39and has every one of the detective's questions translated.
00:08:42He plays for time.
00:08:48And besides, he's innocent.
00:08:51But Grasso knows he's lying.
00:08:53So he has them all arrested.
00:08:57The Fuca brothers,
00:08:58François Scalia and Jean Géant,
00:08:59the man at the restaurant,
00:09:00who had left with the briefcase full of cash.
00:09:07The police raid the Fuca home
00:09:09and discover 11 kilos of 90% pure heroin
00:09:12in a false ceiling.
00:09:16Like the drugs we found traces of in Angelvin's car.
00:09:2011 kilos, that's not enough.
00:09:22The Buick had to be carrying a lot more drugs than that.
00:09:28And we were searching the car in the police garage.
00:09:32And I got the manifest out
00:09:34and called up General Motors.
00:09:38Found out how much of a,
00:09:39how much of a Buick and Victor,
00:09:41how much did it weigh?
00:09:42And I explained what the car was,
00:09:44the make, the model.
00:09:45And they gave me a figure.
00:09:48And then we got the manifest from the ship.
00:09:51how much the car weighed when it got on the ship.
00:09:55And it was 120 pounds heavier.
00:09:58So then I knew.
00:10:02So at least 40 kilos of heroin are missing.
00:10:04And the Fuca brothers must know where they've gone.
00:10:11Grosso sets a trap for the two traffickers.
00:10:13Patsy Fuca and his brother were in jail.
00:10:19We decided to let his brother out of jail
00:10:22to make bail.
00:10:25And then we followed his brother.
00:10:27And his brother went to a place in the Bronx
00:10:32on a number of occasions.
00:10:37And at one point,
00:10:38he came down
00:10:40and went into the carriage room
00:10:42and
00:10:44was about to
00:10:46take a kilo
00:10:47of heroin
00:10:48out of the carriage room.
00:10:51And everybody
00:10:52went in and
00:10:53locked,
00:10:54locked him up.
00:10:55And then found
00:10:55the drugs
00:10:57in the carriage room.
00:10:58You know what I mean?
00:11:01Hidden in a suitcase.
00:11:03Here they are.
00:11:0539 kilos of pure heroin.
00:11:06A record seizure for the time.
00:11:10TV host Jacques Angélvin
00:11:12suddenly becomes a drug dealer.
00:11:17At his trial on January 15th, 1963,
00:11:20Angélvin pleaded guilty,
00:11:22which in the American legal system
00:11:23enabled him to obtain
00:11:24a more lenient verdict,
00:11:25six years imprisonment.
00:11:29François Scaglia
00:11:30and the two Fuca brothers
00:11:31will not be granted
00:11:31the same leniency.
00:11:3322 years for the Marseille hitman.
00:11:3515 years for the American buyers.
00:11:40As for Jean Géant,
00:11:41he won't be bothered after all.
00:11:47After the Angélvin affair,
00:11:49the New York police
00:11:50have France and Marseille
00:11:51in their sights more than ever.
00:11:56This method
00:11:58was used for 25 years
00:12:01without interruption.
00:12:03So imagine
00:12:04how much drugs
00:12:06came into this country,
00:12:07how much money was made,
00:12:10how many people's lives
00:12:11were destroyed
00:12:12with this,
00:12:14with these drugs.
00:12:15You know what I mean?
00:12:1525 years
00:12:16uninterrupted
00:12:18until
00:12:18we made this
00:12:20arrest.
00:12:27Lucien Aimé Blanc,
00:12:28you're a former top cop
00:12:29from Marseille,
00:12:30from the Bishop's Palace,
00:12:31as they say.
00:12:31in the 60s,
00:12:33the United States
00:12:34accused the French authorities
00:12:35of not dealing with
00:12:36drug dealers in Marseille.
00:12:37Is this true?
00:12:39Yes,
00:12:40that's the reality.
00:12:41In fact,
00:12:42what happened was that
00:12:43at the time,
00:12:44there was no local consumption.
00:12:47We knew that there were
00:12:48laboratories operating
00:12:49in the Marseille region.
00:12:52Groups of traffickers
00:12:53from Marseille and Corsica
00:12:54who had connections
00:12:55with the United States
00:12:56and were smuggling heroin
00:12:58into the United States,
00:12:59which was the world's
00:13:00biggest consumer.
00:13:03In other words,
00:13:04since little Marseille
00:13:05weren't dying
00:13:05of drug overdoses,
00:13:07it wasn't a priority.
00:13:08Yes,
00:13:09so much so that
00:13:10the Marseille narcotics squad
00:13:11consisted of six officers
00:13:13and one car.
00:13:14So the French services
00:13:15weren't up to the job.
00:13:17And in the police culture
00:13:18of the time,
00:13:19narcotics were considered minor.
00:13:21The robberies,
00:13:28that,
00:13:28was heavy.
00:13:29Working in teams
00:13:30to stop robberies
00:13:31in the act
00:13:32was interesting
00:13:33and rewarding,
00:13:33but the narcotics business
00:13:35wasn't very well regarded.
00:13:38As you mentioned,
00:13:39many of them are Corsican.
00:13:43Corsicans and Marseillais,
00:13:44mainly.
00:13:45Why?
00:13:46Because Marseille
00:13:47and Corsica
00:13:47have a special culture
00:13:48when it comes to
00:13:49banditry and trafficking.
00:13:50Although I'm from Marseille,
00:13:55I know my compatriots well
00:13:57and I know very well
00:13:58that it's a school
00:13:59of the underworld.
00:14:01There's an underworld culture.
00:14:02And what happened
00:14:03was that many of these
00:14:04Corsicans and Marseillais
00:14:06had expatriated
00:14:07to French Indochina.
00:14:09They had started
00:14:10trafficking opium
00:14:11with the port.
00:14:13At the same time,
00:14:14there was an Armenian community
00:14:16connected to the Turks
00:14:17and the Turks supplied poppies.
00:14:20And the chemists,
00:14:22where did they get
00:14:22their know-how?
00:14:23In truth,
00:14:24the Marseillais
00:14:25had started to traffic
00:14:26fake pastis.
00:14:33They had found a way
00:14:35to make fake pastis.
00:14:37It seems that around 1935,
00:14:39an old smuggler,
00:14:41Grossi,
00:14:41found a way
00:14:42to manufacture heroin
00:14:43without a specialized
00:14:44laboratory.
00:14:48So they had the recipe,
00:14:50and it was passed down
00:14:51from father to son.
00:14:53So from the outset,
00:14:54Marseille became
00:14:55the world's leading source
00:14:56of heroin trafficking.
00:14:59This can't last.
00:15:00In 71,
00:15:01with US help,
00:15:02French Minister of the Interior
00:15:03Raymond Marcelin
00:15:04finally tackles
00:15:05the French connection.
00:15:06The signing of this protocol
00:15:08marks an important milestone
00:15:09in the fight
00:15:10against traffickers.
00:15:17Every day,
00:15:18we are stepping up
00:15:19cooperation
00:15:19between the US
00:15:20and French police forces.
00:15:26The Americans install
00:15:27Supercop John Cusack
00:15:29in Paris
00:15:29to motivate the French cops,
00:15:31and maybe even
00:15:32keep an eye on them.
00:15:33For his part,
00:15:39Minister Marcelin
00:15:39put pressure on his troops
00:15:40and appointed
00:15:41a new head of narcotics,
00:15:43François Le Mouel.
00:15:49Le Mouel
00:15:50was a great
00:15:52officer,
00:15:54and still is,
00:15:55I hope.
00:15:56Did an immediately
00:15:57great work.
00:16:00He brought in
00:16:02more and more men,
00:16:04very good men,
00:16:06and I would say
00:16:08that that group,
00:16:10the French
00:16:11and the US,
00:16:12they were a group,
00:16:14believe me,
00:16:15and they made
00:16:16great cases,
00:16:18great cases.
00:16:25François Le Mouel,
00:16:26you were appointed
00:16:26head of narcotics
00:16:27in 71.
00:16:28You've just come
00:16:29from the anti-gang.
00:16:30gang.
00:16:31Do you know anything
00:16:31about how to fight
00:16:32drug trafficking?
00:16:34Absolutely not,
00:16:35but I have to tell you
00:16:36that I had commanded
00:16:36the anti-gang brigade
00:16:38since 1964,
00:16:40and I had realized
00:16:41in the late 60s,
00:16:4368,
00:16:44as far as I can remember,
00:16:46the explosion
00:16:47of heroin trafficking,
00:16:48because on two occasions,
00:16:50while monitoring
00:16:50individuals who were
00:16:52thought to be preparing
00:16:52for acts of banditry,
00:16:54bank robbers,
00:16:56bank robbers.
00:16:58We came across
00:16:58two cases
00:16:59of international
00:17:00heroin trafficking,
00:17:01and during a very private
00:17:02one-to-one meeting
00:17:03with one of my customers,
00:17:05he said to me,
00:17:06Mr. Le Mouel,
00:17:07you don't have to worry
00:17:08about us anymore,
00:17:09we don't do hold-ups anymore,
00:17:11we're in the drug business,
00:17:12it's much more profitable
00:17:13and much less dangerous.
00:17:17At the time
00:17:18of your appointment,
00:17:19the Americans
00:17:19were more or less
00:17:20suggesting
00:17:21that your predecessors
00:17:21were in cahoots
00:17:22with the people
00:17:23involved in drug trafficking.
00:17:24This is what
00:17:26the Americans
00:17:26suggested in an interview
00:17:27with the newspaper
00:17:28La Provence.
00:17:31In this article,
00:17:31John Cusack
00:17:32said something,
00:17:34there's a sentence
00:17:34that had driven
00:17:35Marcelin mad.
00:17:36There are some
00:17:37well-protected bigwigs
00:17:38in Marseille.
00:17:39So,
00:17:40Marcelin tells me,
00:17:41you're going to summon
00:17:42this Cusack
00:17:43and you're going to ask
00:17:44him immediately
00:17:44to give you these names.
00:17:47Cusack knew
00:17:48that there were
00:17:48no protected bigwigs,
00:17:50but he also knew
00:17:50that in Marseille
00:17:51and Paris,
00:17:52we didn't have
00:17:53the necessary means
00:17:54to work.
00:17:57And it was a
00:17:57premeditated operation.
00:17:59He wanted to provoke
00:18:00a clash
00:18:01and they provoked it
00:18:01that day.
00:18:03So he helped you
00:18:04in a way?
00:18:04Absolutely.
00:18:05Did this mean
00:18:06more funds?
00:18:07Yes,
00:18:07because afterwards,
00:18:08with Morin,
00:18:09who had been my deputy
00:18:10at the anti-gang brigade,
00:18:12who was appointed
00:18:12to Marseille,
00:18:13we made an inventory
00:18:14of the resources
00:18:15we needed.
00:18:16We energetically
00:18:17asked Marcelin
00:18:18for them.
00:18:18meaning one month later,
00:18:22we had the means
00:18:23in men and equipment.
00:18:26In August 71,
00:18:27Commissioner Lemuel
00:18:28sent some of his men
00:18:29to Marseille.
00:18:30In just a few months,
00:18:31the brigade's workforce
00:18:32grew from 6 to 70.
00:18:36And he had the necessary
00:18:37equipment and cars
00:18:38purchased.
00:18:39It's clear.
00:18:41Now the French authorities
00:18:42are out to get
00:18:42the Marseille traffickers.
00:18:43commissioner Lemuel's
00:18:47man of trust
00:18:48in Marseille
00:18:49is Marcel Morin,
00:18:50a former member
00:18:50of the anti-gang
00:18:51like himself.
00:18:52And as soon as he arrives
00:18:53on the Canebiere,
00:18:55he applies to the letter
00:18:56the infiltration
00:18:56and surveillance techniques
00:18:57that had earned him
00:18:58so many successes
00:18:59with the anti-gang.
00:19:04The police were divided
00:19:05into four teams
00:19:06with the necessary
00:19:07radio equipment
00:19:08and cars.
00:19:08and they were housed
00:19:13in two apartments
00:19:14I had rented in Marseille,
00:19:16as well as the boxes
00:19:17in which we hid the vehicles,
00:19:18so that there was
00:19:19less and less chance
00:19:20of them being identified
00:19:21as both police officers
00:19:23and police cars.
00:19:30We lived in an apartment
00:19:31not far from the old port.
00:19:33We had unmarked cars
00:19:34with false plates.
00:19:38Mr. Morin had the intelligence
00:19:40to have the car antennas
00:19:41replaced because,
00:19:43at the time,
00:19:44they were three meters high.
00:19:47They were fiberglass antennas
00:19:48that all Marseille,
00:19:50and especially the underworld,
00:19:51knew well.
00:19:53What's more,
00:19:53the license plates
00:19:54were stenciled.
00:19:56And the whole of Marseille
00:19:58and all the Marseille gangsters
00:19:59recognized the cars
00:20:00by these two clues.
00:20:01This whole method
00:20:06of anticipation,
00:20:07of spotting a network,
00:20:08of surveillance
00:20:09through wiretapping,
00:20:10more discreet shadowing,
00:20:12the fact that we have informers
00:20:14who we might pay
00:20:14for information.
00:20:16All these police methods,
00:20:17which the Americans
00:20:18have already been using
00:20:19for several years,
00:20:20they will be applied
00:20:21on a large scale
00:20:22in Marseille
00:20:23from the summer
00:20:23of 1971 onwards.
00:20:28New political will,
00:20:29new resources.
00:20:31With this in mind,
00:20:32we can imagine
00:20:33that Minister Marcelin
00:20:34was demanding results
00:20:35at the time.
00:20:36A big catch
00:20:37that could prove
00:20:37to the Americans
00:20:38that there was no longer
00:20:39any sanctuary in Marseille
00:20:40for the French connection.
00:20:42In the end,
00:20:44the Marseille customs officers
00:20:45are the ones
00:20:45who hit the jackpot.
00:20:47This is what has been called
00:20:48the caprice d'étance affair.
00:20:50We're in 71
00:20:51and the customs department
00:20:52has just received a tip-off.
00:20:55An informant claims
00:20:56that a large quantity of drugs
00:20:57will be transiting
00:20:58not via Marseille,
00:20:59but via the port
00:21:00of Villefranche
00:21:01near Nice.
00:21:03The customs officers
00:21:04immediately go on site.
00:21:06So we arrive
00:21:06at the port
00:21:07of Villefranche-sur-Mer.
00:21:08There are all kinds of boats,
00:21:10mostly boats being repaired.
00:21:12There's one
00:21:12that doesn't look too bad.
00:21:14The caprice,
00:21:15which is at the far end
00:21:16of the harbor,
00:21:18on its own.
00:21:22And the caprice
00:21:23looks just right
00:21:24for an Atlantic crossing,
00:21:25a 20-meter-long wooden boat
00:21:27equipped for the high seas.
00:21:32It has recently undergone
00:21:33transformations
00:21:34to cope with bad weather.
00:21:39What's more,
00:21:40its captain is no stranger.
00:21:41Jean Carré,
00:21:52at the time,
00:21:53you were Deputy Director
00:21:54of Customs in Marseille.
00:21:56So what exactly
00:21:57does this colleague
00:21:58have to say to you?
00:21:59He gives us both precise
00:22:01and vague information,
00:22:02namely that there is
00:22:03an individual
00:22:04who is eminently suspicious,
00:22:05who owns a boat
00:22:09moored in Villefranche harbor.
00:22:13This individual
00:22:14is under suspicion
00:22:15because he bought a boat,
00:22:16supposedly to go fishing.
00:22:18He spent a lot of money on it,
00:22:20a total of around
00:22:21500,000 to 600,000 francs
00:22:23at the time.
00:22:25The results of his fishing
00:22:26have never been seen.
00:22:29He made two trips to Miami
00:22:30with a stopover
00:22:31in Pointe-Pitre.
00:22:32Around the same time,
00:22:37it was discovered
00:22:37that he had also
00:22:38been traveling by air
00:22:40to the same destination.
00:22:43It's nothing to do
00:22:44with normal fishing activity.
00:22:47And what's more,
00:22:48I'd say he had the profile,
00:22:50which is the most
00:22:50important thing.
00:22:51What do you mean?
00:22:53Well, imagine being
00:22:54a drug dealer
00:22:55for a few moments,
00:22:56intellectually.
00:23:00You're entrusting a fortune
00:23:02to a single individual
00:23:03and you're going to drop him
00:23:08in the middle of the Atlantic
00:23:09with the mission
00:23:10to reach the USA.
00:23:13You do need someone
00:23:14you can trust.
00:23:18Someone who has earned
00:23:19his place in the business.
00:23:24Someone we are certain
00:23:25we can entrust
00:23:25with this merchandise
00:23:26and who will make good use of it,
00:23:28meaning do with it
00:23:29what he was asked.
00:23:34To do this,
00:23:35you need someone
00:23:35with a proven track record
00:23:37and a navigator
00:23:38you can trust completely.
00:23:43You have to be a good sailor
00:23:45and a real hoodlum.
00:23:47Exactly.
00:23:48Both qualities were needed.
00:23:50The customs officers
00:23:53keep watch
00:23:53and it goes on
00:23:55for months.
00:23:56The Caprice d'Eton
00:23:57is always docked.
00:23:59It hasn't moved.
00:24:01And then,
00:24:01one morning,
00:24:02they see the captain
00:24:02get busy
00:24:03and leave port,
00:24:04not on the Caprice d'Eton,
00:24:06but aboard a small sailboat
00:24:07in the company
00:24:08of his wife.
00:24:12They check
00:24:12with the harbour master.
00:24:13The boat is leaving
00:24:14for a cruise to Greece.
00:24:17No one knows
00:24:18when he'll be back.
00:24:20In any case,
00:24:23this boat can't cross
00:24:24the Atlantic,
00:24:25so the customs officers
00:24:27let him go
00:24:27to avoid detection
00:24:28and remain in hiding
00:24:31near the Caprice d'Eton.
00:24:35Sometime later,
00:24:36maybe a month later,
00:24:37one fine day,
00:24:37he appears.
00:24:39And then we learn
00:24:40that he did indeed
00:24:41sail to Greece,
00:24:42but that he had gone
00:24:43as far as the Turkish coast.
00:24:50Turkey.
00:24:51At customs,
00:24:52it immediately rings a bell.
00:24:56Because Turkey
00:24:57is where traffickers
00:24:58get morphine base,
00:24:59the raw material
00:25:00for heroin.
00:25:01What if the captain
00:25:08had gone to Turkey
00:25:09to buy morphine?
00:25:12But once again,
00:25:13the customs officers
00:25:14decide not to take action.
00:25:16They're interested in heroin,
00:25:17not morphine.
00:25:17And the heroin,
00:25:23they are convinced,
00:25:24will be loaded
00:25:24aboard the Caprice d'Eton.
00:25:26does your informant
00:25:29give you any idea
00:25:30of the volume of drugs
00:25:31that could be transported?
00:25:33Absolutely not.
00:25:34I think no one knew that.
00:25:36Information is never given
00:25:38as something is happening
00:25:39on that day,
00:25:39at that time,
00:25:40in that place.
00:25:42It's general data
00:25:43that makes it so.
00:25:45And that's why
00:25:46we had to keep
00:25:46absolutely total secrecy
00:25:48around this operation
00:25:49when we began surveillance.
00:25:50So we watch from afar.
00:25:57To keep an eye on them,
00:25:58here's what we had found.
00:26:00The naval officer
00:26:01told us that
00:26:01above Villefranche
00:26:02there was a small fort
00:26:04that belonged
00:26:04to the French Navy
00:26:05and which had been decommissioned.
00:26:08So we set up two guys
00:26:09who we parachuted in,
00:26:10and I do mean parachuted in,
00:26:12because we actually
00:26:13dropped them off
00:26:14with one of our helicopters
00:26:15and hunter's gear,
00:26:16with a shotgun and cartridges,
00:26:18and of course,
00:26:19a hunting license.
00:26:20Instead of hunting,
00:26:22they made their way
00:26:22quietly through the Garigue
00:26:24to the fort in question.
00:26:26In the fort,
00:26:26we installed a tripod
00:26:28with a marine telescope
00:26:29directed at the Caprice des Temps.
00:26:34We relayed the team up there
00:26:35every 24 hours
00:26:36by helicopter.
00:26:39And day and night,
00:26:40the boat was watched
00:26:41without anyone suspecting it,
00:26:42since the watchers
00:26:43were several kilometers
00:26:44away from the boat's location
00:26:46as the crow flies.
00:26:50At some point,
00:26:52don't you think you're just
00:26:53keeping an eye
00:26:53on a brave fisherman
00:26:54about to set out to sea?
00:26:56Indeed.
00:26:56It's possible?
00:26:57Absolutely.
00:26:58We really don't know
00:26:59if there are any drugs on board.
00:27:02They don't know,
00:27:03but they hope.
00:27:06On February 29th, 72,
00:27:08it is still dark
00:27:09when the Caprice des Temps
00:27:10casts off.
00:27:13On board,
00:27:14the entire crew
00:27:15has loaded enough provisions
00:27:16to last several weeks at sea.
00:27:22The boat heads out to sea,
00:27:23discreetly followed
00:27:24by a Customs Patrol launch,
00:27:25the Sirocco.
00:27:29The Customs Patrol boat
00:27:31follows it.
00:27:34It follows the boat
00:27:35and notices
00:27:36that it's following the coast.
00:27:38It runs along the coast
00:27:40up to about Marseille,
00:27:41I believe.
00:27:41then suddenly
00:27:44it faces out to sea
00:27:45and heads out.
00:27:50But the launch
00:27:50is still following it.
00:27:52It's following by radar,
00:27:53but it's still following.
00:27:54Customs officials
00:27:55want to be sure
00:27:56that the trawler
00:27:56is heading for the United States,
00:27:59a sign that drugs
00:28:00are on board.
00:28:05And the moment
00:28:06the boat leaves
00:28:07territorial waters
00:28:07to enter international waters,
00:28:09the order to intervene
00:28:10is given.
00:28:11with sirens wailing,
00:28:14the Customs launch
00:28:15orders the boat
00:28:16to stop its engines.
00:28:17The captain pretends
00:28:18not to hear
00:28:19and continues on his way.
00:28:21The Sirocco then fires
00:28:22a burst of machine gun fire
00:28:23as a warning.
00:28:25The captain of the Caprice d'Eton
00:28:26is forced to stop the machines.
00:28:32Customs officers
00:28:33board the ship
00:28:34and decide to take
00:28:35the Caprice d'Eton
00:28:35back to the port of Marseille
00:28:37to search it.
00:28:37Once the boat is docked,
00:28:43I suppose you arrive?
00:28:45Oh, yes, of course.
00:28:46We were waiting for him
00:28:48on the docks.
00:28:48It seems elementary to me.
00:28:51First idea?
00:28:52Find the drugs
00:28:52if there are any.
00:28:54Of course.
00:28:55First thing we do,
00:28:56we do a thorough search.
00:28:58The naval officer
00:28:59comes to help
00:29:00question the captain.
00:29:04We look everywhere
00:29:05and find nothing.
00:29:08There was one thing
00:29:09that intrigued us,
00:29:10novices as we were.
00:29:14In the bow,
00:29:15meaning the front of the boat,
00:29:16there's a kind of hatch
00:29:17with a vertical hole
00:29:18covered by a slab of concrete.
00:29:20and there's a plaque of beton.
00:29:26So I ask the naval officer
00:29:28about it,
00:29:29and I say to him,
00:29:30is that slab of concrete
00:29:31in the bow usual?
00:29:33He says it could be.
00:29:34It depends.
00:29:35But we're going to try
00:29:36and probe this concrete slab
00:29:38and see what's there.
00:29:41We give a pickaxe
00:29:42to one of our strongest sailors.
00:29:46We tell him,
00:29:47break the slab.
00:29:48At the third stroke,
00:29:50everything tumbles down.
00:29:52It was empty underneath.
00:29:55He takes an electric lamp,
00:29:56looks at the bottom
00:29:57and tells us,
00:29:57there are bags.
00:29:59There's a duffel bag.
00:30:00Really?
00:30:01Get down there
00:30:02and bring us
00:30:03what's in the duffel bag.
00:30:05And then he came back up
00:30:06with two or three plastic bags
00:30:08with white powder inside.
00:30:14Marseille, the old port.
00:30:16This is where yesterday,
00:30:17all day long,
00:30:18the Caprice Détente
00:30:19was searched
00:30:20and 425 kilos
00:30:22of pure heroin
00:30:23were found.
00:30:24The biggest heroin seizure
00:30:25ever made in the world.
00:30:31425 kilos.
00:30:33The drugs are there.
00:30:34The captain is caught red-handed.
00:30:39But when the customs officers
00:30:40come to fetch him
00:30:41from his cabin,
00:30:41where he's been locked up
00:30:42for the search,
00:30:43he's gone.
00:30:44He has disappeared.
00:30:45During the night,
00:30:48the captain slipped
00:30:49along the coast
00:30:50and swam away.
00:30:53He crosses the harbor.
00:30:55He tries to get onto the docks
00:30:56on the other side,
00:30:57but he can't.
00:30:58He's dying.
00:31:00It's someone jogging
00:31:01or going to work
00:31:02who passes by
00:31:03and hears his moaning,
00:31:04who then notifies
00:31:08the emergency services
00:31:09and we go and fish him out.
00:31:10The rescuers obviously
00:31:13don't know
00:31:14that the man
00:31:14they've just saved
00:31:15from drowning
00:31:15is a drug dealer.
00:31:18They take him
00:31:19to the emergency room
00:31:20where he registers
00:31:21under a false name.
00:31:23But in the meantime,
00:31:24the customs officers
00:31:25have alerted the police.
00:31:27And the next morning,
00:31:28while going through
00:31:29the police records,
00:31:30Commissioner Morin's men
00:31:31discover that a man
00:31:32was saved from drowning
00:31:33the previous evening
00:31:34in the port of Marseille.
00:31:35No doubt about it.
00:31:39It's him.
00:31:42When the ship's captain
00:31:43was able to leave
00:31:44the hospital,
00:31:45he came to the bishop's palace,
00:31:46the police station,
00:31:48and we heard him.
00:31:51His confession is obvious.
00:31:53We intercepted his boat
00:31:54and found 400 key
00:31:55of heroin in it.
00:31:57Santa Claus didn't bring it.
00:32:00So he is obliged
00:32:01to accept this responsibility,
00:32:03since apart from himself,
00:32:04there are only five
00:32:06or six sailors.
00:32:10He was solely responsible
00:32:11for transportation.
00:32:13This, he understands
00:32:14it very well.
00:32:16And the captain agrees
00:32:17to collaborate
00:32:18with the DEA cops.
00:32:21In fact, he admits
00:32:22that this is not
00:32:23his first trip.
00:32:24He has already made
00:32:25two trips to Miami
00:32:26and has smuggled a total
00:32:27of over 100 kilos
00:32:28of heroin.
00:32:31Each time, he says,
00:32:33the merchandise
00:32:33is brought to him
00:32:34and he delivers
00:32:35across the Atlantic
00:32:36to two young Marseille thugs
00:32:37known to the police.
00:32:40As for the real boss,
00:32:41the sponsor,
00:32:42he doesn't know him.
00:32:45All he can do
00:32:46is give the name
00:32:47of the person
00:32:47delivering the goods,
00:32:49a certain Orsatelli.
00:32:52Commissioner Morin's team
00:32:53immediately sets out
00:32:54to find him.
00:32:58But we never stopped him
00:32:59because as soon
00:33:01as the ship
00:33:01entered the port
00:33:02of Marseille,
00:33:04that the Caprice
00:33:05de Temps
00:33:05was stopped
00:33:06in Marseille.
00:33:07Orsatelli went on the run
00:33:08and we never found him.
00:33:13And in my opinion,
00:33:14the customs officers
00:33:15made a serious mistake
00:33:16when they took it back
00:33:17to the port of Marseille.
00:33:19In other words,
00:33:20the whole of Marseille
00:33:21immediately knew,
00:33:22well,
00:33:23the whole of criminal Marseille,
00:33:24all those who had sent the boat
00:33:25immediately knew
00:33:26that the boat
00:33:27had been intercepted.
00:33:29So it was extremely difficult
00:33:30to exploit this interception
00:33:32because obviously
00:33:36everyone's gone underground,
00:33:38so to speak.
00:33:38You should know,
00:33:48Mr. Carre,
00:33:48that the narcotics police
00:33:50have not been very kind
00:33:51to you
00:33:51in their handling
00:33:52of the Caprice de Temps
00:33:53affair.
00:33:56Because you could have,
00:33:57while keeping an eye
00:33:58on the boat,
00:34:01informed the judiciary police
00:34:04who could have traced
00:34:04the captain back
00:34:05to the lab.
00:34:06because that was
00:34:09something at stake here,
00:34:10which was finding the lab
00:34:11that supplied
00:34:12those 440 kilos of heroin.
00:34:14Well,
00:34:15first of all,
00:34:16it's not at all certain
00:34:17because laboratories
00:34:18aren't facilities
00:34:19like the Renault factory.
00:34:21These are temporary,
00:34:23fleeting installations,
00:34:24and when a production run
00:34:25is done,
00:34:26they pack up
00:34:26all the equipment,
00:34:27put it into
00:34:28three or four
00:34:29different vehicles,
00:34:30and take each vehicle
00:34:31to another station,
00:34:32another direction,
00:34:34to await the next
00:34:34production run.
00:34:36This means we can't find
00:34:38the lab the day
00:34:39after production.
00:34:40That's not true.
00:34:42That said,
00:34:43looking at the substance
00:34:44of the problem you pose,
00:34:46do you think the only
00:34:47information I had
00:34:48on contraband
00:34:49was that of the boat?
00:34:53Imagine if I had alerted
00:34:54the judiciary police
00:34:56every time I tried
00:34:57to trace a smuggling
00:34:58operation
00:34:59because we don't succeed
00:35:02every time.
00:35:03So how do you expect
00:35:04me to go about
00:35:05making a fool of myself,
00:35:06alerting the specialized
00:35:07police services
00:35:08every five minutes,
00:35:10saying we've got
00:35:10a case in progress,
00:35:12we've got something,
00:35:13we're following it up.
00:35:17We can only do this
00:35:18when we have a concrete result
00:35:19or near certainty.
00:35:29The narcotics officers
00:35:31will never be able
00:35:32to trace the whole chain.
00:35:34In the end,
00:35:36they will only catch
00:35:36the two thugs
00:35:37who were to receive
00:35:38the merchandise in Miami.
00:35:39They will never be able
00:35:43to arrest Orsatelli,
00:35:45the man who delivered
00:35:45the drugs.
00:35:48As for the real mastermind,
00:35:50the one who financed
00:35:51the four 25 kilos of heroin,
00:35:54this one will never
00:35:56be identified.
00:36:00Of course,
00:36:01Orsatelli wasn't the boss
00:36:02of those 420 kilos of heroin.
00:36:07Because to make
00:36:07420 kilos of heroin,
00:36:09you need a group.
00:36:10So there were several teams,
00:36:12several laboratories
00:36:13and several managers
00:36:14who had to put up money
00:36:15to finance this business.
00:36:19Because you have to buy
00:36:20the morphine base,
00:36:21you have to pay the chemists,
00:36:23and then you have to have
00:36:24a channel in the United States
00:36:25that is willing to take them
00:36:26and is able to redistribute it.
00:36:36All that remains now
00:36:37is to judge the captain.
00:36:39carrier of the largest quantity
00:36:42of heroin ever seized
00:36:43in the world.
00:36:48So, Dominique,
00:36:49how much will the captain
00:36:50of the Caprice des Tommes
00:36:51get after the trial?
00:36:52He's going to pay dearly.
00:36:551st trial,
00:36:571st trial,
00:36:58January 5th, 1973,
00:37:00Marseille Court.
00:37:01The public prosecutor
00:37:02asks for 20 years.
00:37:04He gets 15 years,
00:37:05plus a fine of 6 million francs.
00:37:076 million francs?
00:37:086 million francs,
00:37:10at the time,
00:37:11this is unprecedented,
00:37:12the captain appeals.
00:37:14Hmm.
00:37:152nd trial,
00:37:1673,
00:37:17appeals court of Aix-en province.
00:37:18And here the captain's lawyer
00:37:20is clumsy to say the least.
00:37:22He has several lawyers.
00:37:24Mr. Polak takes the floor,
00:37:25addresses the judge and,
00:37:27commenting on the first 15-year sentence,
00:37:29says,
00:37:3015 years in prison
00:37:32for a man like him
00:37:33is a slow,
00:37:34sure,
00:37:34and shameful death.
00:37:35And then the public prosecutor
00:37:37stands up,
00:37:39looks at Mr. Polak and says,
00:37:42Sir,
00:37:43have you considered
00:37:43their own death?
00:37:45All these young drug addicts
00:37:47who are dying
00:37:47before they're even 20.
00:37:50The argument took hold,
00:37:52and for the captain,
00:37:53it's no longer 15 years,
00:37:54it's going to be 18 years,
00:37:563 years more,
00:37:57and a fine that now
00:37:58goes up to 35 million francs.
00:38:02Can he pay 35 million?
00:38:03He'll never be able to pay that,
00:38:06it's payback for customs.
00:38:08Is this trial a first in France?
00:38:11Yes,
00:38:11it's a first,
00:38:12because it's the first time
00:38:14the new 1970 law
00:38:15on drug trafficking
00:38:16will be applied in France.
00:38:20This law says three things.
00:38:22The length of police custody
00:38:24is now increased,
00:38:25from 24 hours to 48 hours.
00:38:28For narcotics,
00:38:29it's now 72,
00:38:30even 96 hours.
00:38:32Up to four days
00:38:33in police custody.
00:38:35During this time,
00:38:36you can investigate his circle,
00:38:38search and find drugs.
00:38:40Secondly,
00:38:40the sentences incurred
00:38:41will be increased
00:38:42from five years,
00:38:43which was the maximum,
00:38:47to 20 years for trafficking,
00:38:48and even 40 years
00:38:49for repeat offenses,
00:38:51and then we're going
00:38:51to authorize
00:38:52day and night raids.
00:38:53So the captain is the first
00:38:57to be condemned
00:38:57by this new law.
00:38:59The captain is the first victim
00:39:00of the all-out war
00:39:02against traffickers.
00:39:02This record catch
00:39:11and the captain's conviction
00:39:12come at just the right time,
00:39:14and the Americans
00:39:15now have proof that,
00:39:16although France
00:39:17has been a little lax
00:39:18for years,
00:39:19now it's over.
00:39:20The problem is that
00:39:21in this case,
00:39:22neither the masterminds
00:39:23nor the chemists,
00:39:24those who transform morphine
00:39:26into heroin,
00:39:27have been arrested.
00:39:28So if they want to pull off
00:39:30something really big,
00:39:31the French police
00:39:32now need to dismantle a lab.
00:39:34In fact,
00:39:35the Americans have made
00:39:36this extremely clear.
00:39:39Speaking of which,
00:39:40here's a chemist.
00:39:42One of the stars
00:39:42of the French Connection,
00:39:44Henri Malvesi.
00:39:47During good months,
00:39:48he could manufacture
00:39:49up to 400 kilos
00:39:50of 98% pure heroin.
00:39:54I'll tell you,
00:39:55the place where I got
00:39:56the most contact
00:39:57was at the stadium.
00:39:58I had my season ticket.
00:40:02And the guys
00:40:03who did their business
00:40:04and received the merchandise,
00:40:05they knew I was there,
00:40:07I mean,
00:40:07the ones I knew.
00:40:11I would see them
00:40:12and I would know
00:40:12we were meeting
00:40:13at such and such place.
00:40:14We'd see each other
00:40:15and they would say,
00:40:16I've got 50 or 100.
00:40:18I was making his merchandise.
00:40:21When it was done,
00:40:22I would go find him.
00:40:24And that's all there is to it,
00:40:25meet at such and such place
00:40:26to pick it up.
00:40:27often we would go
00:40:29in clinics and hospitals,
00:40:30we would load,
00:40:32then we would leave.
00:40:36We would leave?
00:40:37Not always.
00:40:38One day Malvesi fell
00:40:39in 1980.
00:40:41He was sentenced
00:40:41to 17 years in prison.
00:40:43And yet the narcotics police
00:40:45had been trying
00:40:45to nail him for years.
00:40:49Chemists are never easy
00:40:50to bring down
00:40:51as they only work
00:40:52a few days a month
00:40:53and know how to make themselves
00:40:54extremely discreet.
00:40:57Most of these people
00:41:02are one, two,
00:41:03or three at the most
00:41:04who have access
00:41:05to the laboratory.
00:41:07And they don't brag about it.
00:41:09So outside sources
00:41:10never know.
00:41:11They can tell you
00:41:12if a guy is a chemist,
00:41:13but they can't tell you
00:41:14where it's happening.
00:41:17So if we get behind
00:41:18the chemist,
00:41:18one day when he goes
00:41:19to his lab,
00:41:20we find it.
00:41:21But sometimes
00:41:24we tailed people
00:41:24for days and days
00:41:25without getting any results.
00:41:29This is how chemists
00:41:31play cat and mouse.
00:41:34Henri Malvesi
00:41:34had up to 10 police cars
00:41:36on his tail
00:41:36trying to locate
00:41:37his laboratory.
00:41:40But the Marseillais
00:41:41was cunning
00:41:42and had tricks
00:41:42up his sleeve.
00:41:45When I had to go
00:41:46to the lab,
00:41:47which was up
00:41:48in the can of beer,
00:41:49I would leave
00:41:49by going down
00:41:50the end of the cornice.
00:41:51for example.
00:41:53And if on the way back,
00:41:54I still had the same
00:41:55cars following me,
00:41:56I would understand
00:41:57that I had them
00:41:58behind me,
00:41:58so we always had
00:41:59our eyes
00:42:00in the rearview mirror.
00:42:02We were always
00:42:03on alert.
00:42:11I was on my toes
00:42:14when I went to the lab
00:42:15and when I delivered.
00:42:17Once I had delivered,
00:42:17it was over.
00:42:19Once in the lab,
00:42:20it was done,
00:42:21time to relax.
00:42:25I knew that nobody
00:42:26was looking for me,
00:42:28otherwise they would
00:42:28have taken me.
00:42:31They would not have
00:42:32let me keep the lab.
00:42:34I knew I hadn't been made.
00:42:37When I often had them,
00:42:38non-stop,
00:42:39I would still go to the lab.
00:42:41Sometimes I didn't see them
00:42:43for 20 days.
00:42:45Once,
00:42:45I really fooled them.
00:42:47in other words,
00:42:49they gave me a bit
00:42:50of a head start.
00:42:51I came to a street
00:42:52where there was
00:42:53a big moving truck.
00:42:55I stuck to it like this.
00:42:58They looked down,
00:42:59they looked up,
00:43:00they took off
00:43:01like a rocket,
00:43:02and I jumped back down.
00:43:03or sometimes,
00:43:04when they had had enough
00:43:05or didn't want
00:43:06to follow us anymore,
00:43:07we would wave goodbye.
00:43:11So Dominique Rizet,
00:43:13a little chemistry lesson now.
00:43:15How is heroin made?
00:43:17From morphine base,
00:43:18I believe.
00:43:18Morphine base is transformed
00:43:21into heroin,
00:43:22and that's quite an art.
00:43:24At the time,
00:43:24this was the expertise
00:43:25of Marseille's chemists.
00:43:28The raw material
00:43:28is a sap obtained
00:43:30by incising the poppy flower.
00:43:33This sap is transformed
00:43:35into morphine base.
00:43:36At the time,
00:43:37morphine base generally
00:43:38came from Lebanon,
00:43:40Turkey,
00:43:40and Syria.
00:43:42Heroin is then made
00:43:43from refining morphine base
00:43:46with a product called
00:43:47acetic anhydride.
00:43:51The hardest part
00:43:51is getting the morphine
00:43:52and acetic anhydride.
00:43:54Because everything else,
00:43:56acetone,
00:43:57sulfuric acid,
00:43:58ammonia,
00:43:58and all the other lab equipment,
00:44:00is available on the market.
00:44:02That's why it is so easy
00:44:03to set up a lab at the time.
00:44:05Others tried to make heroin
00:44:06as pure as that
00:44:07of the Marseillaise.
00:44:11They managed to make
00:44:12a product 70% pure.
00:44:14The Marseille product
00:44:15was 95 to 97%.
00:44:17Why?
00:44:18Because they had a secret.
00:44:20The secret was to reach
00:44:21the dough's melting point,
00:44:23229 degrees,
00:44:24and to do so
00:44:25at a good pace.
00:44:29You had to be patient
00:44:30and know how to wait.
00:44:33And one of the French
00:44:34connection's best-known chemists,
00:44:36Francois Scapula,
00:44:37once said,
00:44:38it's like bouillabaisse,
00:44:39you have it or you don't.
00:44:40You have it or you don't.
00:44:41You have it.
00:44:41You have it.
00:44:43How much does it make
00:44:44to process like this,
00:44:45to buy morphine-based
00:44:46and resell heroin?
00:44:50The cost price of processing
00:44:51a kilo of heroin
00:44:52is 10,000 francs.
00:44:54From then?
00:44:55Yes, from then.
00:44:56It sells in the US
00:44:57for 60,000.
00:44:58It's worth six times more.
00:45:00When the drug reaches the US,
00:45:02it's pure.
00:45:04A kilo of pure heroin
00:45:05from Marseille
00:45:06that reaches the US
00:45:07is unusable.
00:45:07A junkie can't inject himself
00:45:09with this drug
00:45:10because it means
00:45:10immediate death.
00:45:12It must be diluted.
00:45:13How do you do this?
00:45:14Since it's a white powder,
00:45:16it is diluted
00:45:16with a product resembling it.
00:45:18We use talcum powder
00:45:19or powdered sugar.
00:45:21So we put four kilos
00:45:23of talcum powder
00:45:24into one kilo of heroin
00:45:25to finally obtain
00:45:27a consumable product,
00:45:28meaning 20% pure.
00:45:30This means that quantities
00:45:31are perpetually multiplied.
00:45:34Pay off too.
00:45:35The pay off too,
00:45:36every time.
00:45:38In the early 70s,
00:45:40there are only
00:45:42four or five
00:45:42major Marseille chemists
00:45:44capable of manufacturing
00:45:45heroin with a purity level
00:45:46of over 90%.
00:45:48And among them,
00:45:50a real star.
00:45:52Joseph Tessari.
00:45:54Joseph Andre Tessari,
00:45:56he's got the physique
00:45:57of a movie character
00:45:58from the 50s.
00:46:01An obscure character,
00:46:02a lab tech,
00:46:03very discreet,
00:46:04black hair,
00:46:05a true Corsican,
00:46:06born in Bastia in 1915,
00:46:08who cut his teeth
00:46:09as a sailor
00:46:10on the messagerie's maritimes
00:46:11and who is now
00:46:12officially a pig farmer.
00:46:14Very discreet,
00:46:15very obsessive
00:46:16about his discretion.
00:46:22He serves
00:46:22all the French
00:46:23connection networks.
00:46:27His customers
00:46:28are all those
00:46:28who want to transform
00:46:29morphine base
00:46:30into heroin.
00:46:34This delicate operation,
00:46:35it's him
00:46:35who masters it the best.
00:46:38And so,
00:46:39in a very closed off
00:46:40and discreet way,
00:46:41he will operate
00:46:42for years and years.
00:46:48Joseph Tessari's know-how
00:46:49is unique
00:46:50in the Marseille marketplace.
00:46:52His drug is so popular
00:46:53on the American market
00:46:54that it is sold
00:46:55at a higher price
00:46:56than the others.
00:46:56It's even signed
00:46:58with a colored sticker
00:46:59on each pack
00:46:59so that dealers
00:47:00can easily recognize it.
00:47:06Cessari,
00:47:06who was actively
00:47:07sought by the police
00:47:08in Marseille,
00:47:09was first caught
00:47:10red-handed
00:47:11in his lab
00:47:11in 1964
00:47:12with over 100 kilos
00:47:14of heroin
00:47:14and as many more
00:47:15in the process
00:47:16of being transformed.
00:47:18Sentenced to seven years
00:47:20in prison,
00:47:20the chemist
00:47:21was released
00:47:21in October 1971.
00:47:25As soon as we were able
00:47:26to identify Cessari,
00:47:28we said to ourselves
00:47:29that he was a target
00:47:30we had to keep
00:47:30in our sights
00:47:31because he hadn't been
00:47:32out of the game
00:47:33for long.
00:47:36It would be very surprising
00:47:37if he were to resume
00:47:38a normal life
00:47:39without one day
00:47:40entering a laboratory.
00:47:42As a result,
00:47:43we put him
00:47:43under systematic watch.
00:47:46Cessari has become
00:47:47the number one target
00:47:48for Commissioner Morin's men,
00:47:50but his first arrest
00:47:51made him wary
00:47:52and even more discreet.
00:47:55Accustomed to police techniques
00:47:56and constantly on alert,
00:47:58he becomes almost impossible
00:47:59to track down.
00:48:01He knew every nook and cranny.
00:48:02He'd take us to dead ends.
00:48:04He'd come back.
00:48:07If there was someone behind,
00:48:08it was over
00:48:09and in the countryside,
00:48:10you know,
00:48:11it's over.
00:48:13We followed him
00:48:14to appointments he had
00:48:15because we saw him
00:48:17making appointments
00:48:17left and right.
00:48:20to get to an appointment,
00:48:23he would park
00:48:23800 meters away.
00:48:25He would leave his wife
00:48:26and then
00:48:27he would go on foot
00:48:29and 50 meters further
00:48:32he would get into another car
00:48:33and we were already on foot.
00:48:35We were stuck,
00:48:36but we accumulated information.
00:48:39We put them on file
00:48:40and with the benefit
00:48:41of hindsight,
00:48:42all that served us well.
00:48:43drop-off points,
00:48:46contacts left and right.
00:48:48We cross-checked info like this.
00:48:51After more than eight months
00:48:52of shadowing,
00:48:53the Marseille Narcotics Police
00:48:55managed to discover this villa.
00:48:58Villa Suzanne,
00:48:59a secluded house
00:49:00surrounded by vineyards
00:49:01near Aubagne.
00:49:02It is inhabited
00:49:03by a young couple
00:49:04with a child.
00:49:05But we were still interested
00:49:07in Cesare's visit
00:49:08to this address
00:49:09because we thought
00:49:10he might be able
00:49:10to set up a laboratory there
00:49:12when it was in
00:49:13a fairly deserted area.
00:49:21There were no people around
00:49:22to know what was going on.
00:49:27So we staked out
00:49:28Cesare in this house.
00:49:29We saw him come,
00:49:34settle in.
00:49:35We didn't see him come out.
00:49:38He stayed there
00:49:39for a few days
00:49:39and we came to think
00:49:40it was a manufacturing phase.
00:49:46And Mr. Morin
00:49:47decided to intervene
00:49:48on the afternoon
00:49:49of the same day.
00:49:51And at 2 p.m.,
00:49:52we met in Mr. Morin's office
00:49:53on the second floor
00:49:54of the bishop's palace.
00:49:56Mr. Morin
00:49:56had installed
00:49:57a staff map
00:49:58on the wall.
00:49:59He said,
00:50:00if all goes well,
00:50:01in an hour
00:50:02we'll be raiding
00:50:02a laboratory
00:50:03converting morphine
00:50:04into heroin.
00:50:07Processed by Mr. Joe Cesare.
00:50:10In the early afternoon,
00:50:12the entire Marseille narcotics squad
00:50:14surrounded the Villa Suzanne.
00:50:18The neighborhood is sealed off.
00:50:21The people inside are trapped.
00:50:27At precisely 3 p.m.,
00:50:28Commissioner Morin
00:50:29orders the assault.
00:50:33On site,
00:50:34we found a quantity
00:50:35equivalent to 100 kilos
00:50:36of heroin.
00:50:40And above all,
00:50:41a huge quantity
00:50:42of the chemicals
00:50:43used in its manufacture,
00:50:45both in the lab itself
00:50:47and in a lean-to next door,
00:50:50where there was enough material
00:50:51to make tons.
00:50:52Only the couple,
00:50:55or even just the woman
00:50:56and her child,
00:50:57are stopped at the scene.
00:50:59And Mr. Gerardo,
00:51:01Mr. Cesare's deputy,
00:51:02and Mr. Cesare himself
00:51:03are arrested at their homes.
00:51:05In the afternoon
00:51:08and late afternoon,
00:51:09respectively.
00:51:14Cesare is taken into custody
00:51:15but denies it.
00:51:16And it's true
00:51:17that since he wasn't
00:51:18arrested in the lab,
00:51:20the police lack evidence.
00:51:23It's a small detail
00:51:24that will give him away.
00:51:27On site,
00:51:28we found a pair of pants,
00:51:30and on close inspection,
00:51:31I noticed that they were stained
00:51:33around the inside of the knee.
00:51:34We had Cesare undress
00:51:40and found that he had a wound
00:51:41on the inside of his knee,
00:51:43exactly at the level
00:51:44of the stain on his pants.
00:51:52So we effectively proved
00:51:53that these were the pants
00:51:54Cesare wore
00:51:55when he was in the lab.
00:51:59The great Cesare
00:52:01fell for a little stain.
00:52:04But will that be enough
00:52:08to convict him?
00:52:12Unless the young couple
00:52:13who officially own the house
00:52:14give him away.
00:52:19I spoke to the woman first
00:52:21who is always
00:52:21they are more fragile people.
00:52:25And I asked her
00:52:26who was in the lab
00:52:27because of course
00:52:28she knew them.
00:52:29And so when she hesitated a bit,
00:52:34I told her,
00:52:35you'd better give us
00:52:36some statements, miss.
00:52:37Because if you don't,
00:52:38you're going to jail.
00:52:40And when you get out,
00:52:41that little kid over there
00:52:42will be doing
00:52:42his military service.
00:52:48Because today,
00:52:48people who make heroin
00:52:49get 20 years.
00:52:50And after a long moment
00:52:55of hesitation,
00:52:56she finally breaks down
00:52:58and confesses.
00:53:01Yes, it was Joseph Cesare
00:53:03who gave her the money
00:53:04to buy the villa.
00:53:06In fact,
00:53:07he chose it.
00:53:10As for the drugs,
00:53:11they were manufactured
00:53:12on the spot
00:53:13by Cesare and his assistant.
00:53:14This time,
00:53:19Cesare is done.
00:53:23So, M. Le Moelle,
00:53:24Cesare's arrest
00:53:24is a big breakthrough.
00:53:27It's terrific.
00:53:28I mean,
00:53:29it's a great moment.
00:53:33It's an emotional moment
00:53:34because he was
00:53:35a genius chemist.
00:53:38I think he produced
00:53:39heroin with 99% purity,
00:53:41which a professional chemist
00:53:45would hardly have achieved.
00:53:48The Americans are delighted
00:53:50with Cesare's arrest.
00:53:52They're all the happier
00:53:53because a few days later,
00:53:55Watson calls me.
00:53:56The ambassador.
00:53:57Yes,
00:53:58the ambassador phoned me
00:53:59and said,
00:54:00Mr. Le Moelle,
00:54:01I absolutely must go
00:54:02and see this lab in Marseille.
00:54:04I'll take you to Marseille
00:54:05in my own plane.
00:54:06And we set off
00:54:07from Le Bourget
00:54:08and his twin-engine beach craft.
00:54:11He was so happy.
00:54:14So we had a great day
00:54:16in Marseille.
00:54:17From that moment on,
00:54:18the Americans were convinced
00:54:19of your goodwill.
00:54:21Absolutely.
00:54:22Our relationship of trust,
00:54:24camaraderie,
00:54:24and collaboration
00:54:25was absolutely impeccable.
00:54:31Joseph Cesare
00:54:32took his own life
00:54:33in prison
00:54:33on March 22, 72.
00:54:36Two letters
00:54:37were found in his cell.
00:54:39The first was to his wife,
00:54:40asking her forgiveness
00:54:42for leaving her alone
00:54:43with their two children.
00:54:45The second is
00:54:46for the examining judge.
00:54:47He asks him
00:54:48to return his body
00:54:49to his family.
00:54:51The chemist
00:54:51has left
00:54:52with all his secrets.
00:54:53A section
00:54:54of the French connection
00:54:54has fallen.
00:54:56It has to be said
00:54:57that he already had
00:54:58a previous conviction.
00:55:01He knew
00:55:01he would be locked away
00:55:02for at least 20 years
00:55:04and that maybe,
00:55:05as he was
00:55:08a repeat offender,
00:55:09this penalty
00:55:09could be doubled.
00:55:14So he knew
00:55:15it was all over for him.
00:55:24In the Caprice
00:55:25des Tonquais,
00:55:26police and customs officers
00:55:27in Marseille
00:55:28brought down a smuggler.
00:55:30With Cesare's arrest,
00:55:31a major chemist
00:55:32has fallen.
00:55:32What's needed now
00:55:35to put an end
00:55:35to trafficking
00:55:36is to bring down
00:55:37the big shots.
00:55:38Those who finance
00:55:39the purchase of morphine,
00:55:41the equipment
00:55:41for the labs,
00:55:42and those who then
00:55:43make the profits
00:55:43from the sale of heroin
00:55:44to the Americans,
00:55:46in other words,
00:55:47the godfathers.
00:55:48In 1973,
00:55:49the first godfather
00:55:50to fall
00:55:51is Jean-Baptiste Croce,
00:55:52who will be arrested
00:55:53thanks to a technique
00:55:54straight from the United States,
00:55:56the testimony of criminals
00:55:57who turn states' evidence.
00:55:58I was arrested in 1971
00:56:01during a heroin deal,
00:56:03and after discovering
00:56:04that I had been sold out
00:56:05by my associates,
00:56:06I made a full confession,
00:56:08which led to the dismantling
00:56:13of the so-called
00:56:14French Connection.
00:56:17Richard Burden
00:56:18was arrested in New York
00:56:19while trying to smuggle
00:56:20a car full of heroin
00:56:21into the United States.
00:56:23But the U.S. Narcotics Office
00:56:25isn't interested
00:56:26in the small-time smuggler.
00:56:27What they want
00:56:28is the head of the network,
00:56:30the man who financed
00:56:31the product.
00:56:32So they offer him a deal.
00:56:35It's tempting
00:56:35when you have
00:56:36the rest of your life
00:56:37behind bars
00:56:39or almost immediate freedom.
00:56:42At that point,
00:56:43a survival instinct
00:56:44kicks in and
00:56:45I really can't say
00:56:47what I would have done.
00:56:49Well, in my case,
00:56:50I sat at the table.
00:56:51As soon as you were questioned
00:56:52by the Narcotics Bureau,
00:56:54which wasn't the DA yet,
00:56:55we would give you
00:56:58the following deal.
00:56:59It was either 30 years
00:57:01in prison,
00:57:01but really in a cage.
00:57:04Because American prison
00:57:05at the time
00:57:06was truly a cage,
00:57:07or three years on a farm.
00:57:09The farm is an establishment
00:57:11surrounded by a vast garden
00:57:12where guests are allowed
00:57:14to entertain their girlfriends
00:57:15on a regular basis,
00:57:17perfect their golf swings
00:57:18and play soccer
00:57:19or ping-pong
00:57:20to their heart's content.
00:57:33It's true that this proposal
00:57:34left little choice
00:57:35and that the vast majority
00:57:37of people talked.
00:57:37Richard Burdine made his choice
00:57:45and gives up his accomplices,
00:57:47including one name,
00:57:49Edmund Tyleth,
00:57:50a cabaret comedian
00:57:51by profession.
00:57:54Tyleth is immediately arrested.
00:57:56He's carrying drugs.
00:57:57And the Americans
00:57:58offer him the usual deal,
00:58:0030 years in prison
00:58:01or a confession
00:58:02and a few years on a farm.
00:58:05In turn, Edmund Tyleth talks.
00:58:07And this time,
00:58:09it's heavy stuff.
00:58:12Jean-Baptiste Croce,
00:58:13a.k.a. Baty,
00:58:14and his partner
00:58:14Joseph Bernard-Marie,
00:58:16a.k.a. Le Frise.
00:58:20On January 19th, 73,
00:58:22it's nearly 7 p.m.
00:58:24Morin and his men
00:58:25are staking out a restaurant,
00:58:26Le Gondolier,
00:58:27on the Quai du Port
00:58:28in Marseille.
00:58:29When Jean-Baptiste Croce
00:58:30gets out,
00:58:31he gets into his car
00:58:32and a few meters further,
00:58:33with guns drawn,
00:58:34the police stop him.
00:58:36No gunshots,
00:58:37no injuries,
00:58:37everything went smoothly.
00:58:39At the same time,
00:58:40his accomplice,
00:58:40Joseph Marie,
00:58:41leaves the restaurant.
00:58:42A second team of police officers
00:58:44intercept him,
00:58:45without incident.
00:58:46The raid is a success
00:58:47for Morin and his men.
00:58:49The men who they suspect
00:58:50of having sent nearly
00:58:51a ton of heroin
00:58:51to the United States
00:58:52in less than two years
00:58:53are handcuffed.
00:58:55At last,
00:58:56they will be brought to trial.
00:58:58The problem is that,
00:58:59apart from the statements
00:59:00made by those
00:59:01who have turned
00:59:01state's evidence,
00:59:02the police have
00:59:03no material evidence
00:59:04against them.
00:59:06On June 17, 1974,
00:59:07the trial of
00:59:08Jean-Baptiste Croce
00:59:09opens before
00:59:10the Marseille High Court.
00:59:14In the dock,
00:59:15some 20 defendants.
00:59:17Croce,
00:59:17his lieutenants,
00:59:18but also his wife.
00:59:23Missing from the list
00:59:24are the Corsican godfather's
00:59:25two associates,
00:59:26Joseph Bernard-Marie
00:59:27and Joseph Morrow.
00:59:30The first died a year earlier.
00:59:32The second is on the run.
00:59:37It's the French Connection's
00:59:38big trial.
00:59:39It took a year and a half
00:59:40of investigation
00:59:40to build the case
00:59:41against Croce.
00:59:43A case that is held together
00:59:45only through the confessions
00:59:46of collaborating witnesses.
00:59:49Croce is accused
00:59:50of being a drug trafficker
00:59:51and of shipping heroin
00:59:52to America.
00:59:52in particular
00:59:57through smugglers.
01:00:01I consulted the file
01:00:02and saw that there wasn't much,
01:00:04apart from a deposition
01:00:05by Edmund Tylett,
01:00:06who claimed that Croce
01:00:07had instructed him
01:00:08to smuggle drugs
01:00:09to America.
01:00:10I pleaded that the word
01:00:22of these informers
01:00:22was worth nothing more
01:00:24than the money
01:00:24they had been given
01:00:25to make these denunciations.
01:00:29In legal terms,
01:00:30it was rather shaky.
01:00:32Why, in the end,
01:00:33according to the main principles,
01:00:35are we going to give more value
01:00:36to the word of people
01:00:37who are informers,
01:00:38who monetize their denunciations
01:00:40and who monetize them
01:00:41very generously?
01:00:46At the hearing,
01:00:47the defense lawyers
01:00:48cry foul.
01:00:50They claim that
01:00:50in order to give up
01:00:51the godfathers,
01:00:52the informers have received
01:00:53much more than freedom.
01:00:55They have also been given money
01:00:56and a new identity.
01:00:59They accuse them of lying
01:01:00to line their own pockets.
01:01:05Of course,
01:01:06there was no denying
01:01:07that people had an interest
01:01:08in talking
01:01:09and to talk about
01:01:12major traffickers,
01:01:13precisely to obtain
01:01:14proportional clemency
01:01:16from the American authorities.
01:01:22That's a given.
01:01:24But for all that,
01:01:25everything they said
01:01:26was verified,
01:01:27and we brought back
01:01:28the proof that
01:01:28every meeting,
01:01:29every move,
01:01:30every arrival of a car,
01:01:32we found it.
01:01:32we proved that.
01:01:33Indeed,
01:01:34we didn't know it at first,
01:01:35but we found all these cars,
01:01:37including those that had
01:01:38returned to France
01:01:39or those that we tracked
01:01:40down in the USA.
01:01:41We verified everything
01:01:43we could,
01:01:43and all the verifications
01:01:44we did prove that
01:01:46Edmond Taylor's statements
01:01:47were correct.
01:01:47and all the verifications
01:01:48that we could do.
01:01:49And all the verifications
01:01:50that we did
01:01:51have proved
01:01:52that the declaration
01:01:55of Edmond Taylor
01:01:56was exact.
01:01:59Croce's lawyers
01:01:59ask that the informants
01:02:01be brought to the stand
01:02:02to confirm their statements
01:02:03in front of the Godfather himself.
01:02:08But of course,
01:02:09no one will come.
01:02:12No witnesses
01:02:13were called at the hearing.
01:02:14We were read reports
01:02:17and depositions
01:02:18taken in America.
01:02:22Or we made comparisons
01:02:23with the depositions
01:02:24of some and others.
01:02:25But nothing concrete,
01:02:27nothing detailed,
01:02:28no really precise charge.
01:02:32The trial will last
01:02:33just over a week.
01:02:35And the prosecution
01:02:36soon realizes
01:02:37that if they want
01:02:38to convict Croce,
01:02:39they will have to find
01:02:40something other than
01:02:41the informant's accusations.
01:02:44The prosecutor then attacks
01:02:46the Godfather's lifestyle.
01:02:47Since officially,
01:02:49Mr. Croce only receives
01:02:50a disability pension
01:02:51of 3,500 francs
01:02:52every three months.
01:02:54And yet,
01:02:54between April 70
01:02:55and August 71,
01:02:57he has changed boats
01:02:58three times,
01:02:59drives a large sedan,
01:03:01and has spent
01:03:011,500,000 francs
01:03:04to renovate his villa
01:03:05and buy two commercial
01:03:06premises in Bastia.
01:03:09And that's for getting
01:03:10all the money
01:03:11he lost at the casino,
01:03:12a lot of money.
01:03:14And Croce does not
01:03:17defend himself well
01:03:18in this area.
01:03:19He speaks of a war chest,
01:03:21savings,
01:03:22which he amassed
01:03:22in the late 50s,
01:03:24when he ran several
01:03:24businesses in the Caribbean.
01:03:30Jean-Baptiste Croce
01:03:31would say,
01:03:32I have a fortune
01:03:33that I brought back
01:03:34from my heyday in Cuba,
01:03:35where I had three nightclubs,
01:03:37so I made a lot of money.
01:03:38We asked him
01:03:43which bank
01:03:44he was investing in,
01:03:45and he replied
01:03:46that I don't invest
01:03:47my money in banks,
01:03:48because banks get robbed,
01:03:49so it's not serious.
01:03:54So I put it somewhere else.
01:03:56So he was full of nonsense
01:03:57on that level.
01:04:00He was constantly
01:04:01objecting to the fact
01:04:02that he had to justify
01:04:03his resources,
01:04:04and it made him angry
01:04:06because he'd say,
01:04:07it's not possible,
01:04:08I've earned money,
01:04:10but it's nobody's business
01:04:11to know where my money
01:04:13comes from.
01:04:16And it's not as silly
01:04:17as all that,
01:04:18because until then,
01:04:19it wasn't really
01:04:21considered a means
01:04:21of evidence.
01:04:24And the public prosecutor
01:04:25is going to put a lot
01:04:26of energy
01:04:26into finding evidence.
01:04:28He goes so far
01:04:32as to delve
01:04:32into the lifestyles
01:04:33of the godfather's relatives.
01:04:39We'll take a closer look
01:04:41at their financial situation
01:04:42and discover that,
01:04:43curiously enough.
01:04:45Once,
01:04:46someone arrived in Geneva
01:04:47at the door of a bank
01:04:48with double-bottomed suitcases
01:04:50containing hundreds
01:04:51of thousands of dollars
01:04:52corresponding to the sale
01:04:53of heroin
01:04:54from the cars
01:04:55that arrived in New York.
01:04:58A few months later,
01:05:02a member of the family
01:05:04of these great godfathers
01:05:06makes an investment
01:05:07to buy a hotel in Corsica,
01:05:11changes his car,
01:05:12gives jewelry
01:05:13to his mistress,
01:05:14what have you.
01:05:21But that's all well and good.
01:05:23This certainly strengthens
01:05:24suspicions against
01:05:25Jean-Baptiste Croce,
01:05:26but it doesn't prove
01:05:28that Croce
01:05:28is the drug kingpin
01:05:29he's made out to be.
01:05:33And his lawyers
01:05:34are not afraid
01:05:35to say it out loud
01:05:36in court.
01:05:41I remember telling
01:05:42the public prosecutor,
01:05:43you've established
01:05:46a set of presumptions,
01:05:47as you put it.
01:05:52But each presumption
01:05:53leads to nothing.
01:05:55As a result,
01:05:57the overall view
01:05:58also comes to nothing.
01:06:00We're trying to fight
01:06:01this new concept
01:06:02of justice,
01:06:03which consists
01:06:04in saying,
01:06:05here we don't have
01:06:06the evidence
01:06:06because it's drug trafficking.
01:06:08There we don't have
01:06:09the possibility
01:06:09of having a witness
01:06:11because it's drug trafficking.
01:06:16And we end up saying,
01:06:17this is too easy.
01:06:19If every time
01:06:19the prosecution
01:06:20comes up against
01:06:20a serious obstacle,
01:06:22we're told that
01:06:22it's the very nature
01:06:23of the case
01:06:24that means
01:06:24we can't provide full proof.
01:06:29This could only be
01:06:30an intellectual demonstration,
01:06:32since these organizers
01:06:33of the major
01:06:34drug trafficking networks
01:06:35had been using methods
01:06:36that were actually
01:06:37used during the war.
01:06:41and by the resistance
01:06:44or by movements
01:06:45fighting against
01:06:46the resistance
01:06:46to effectively
01:06:47compartmentalize
01:06:49their activities.
01:06:50So they didn't know
01:06:51the different levels
01:06:52at which operations
01:06:53were actually carried out.
01:06:56And so it was only
01:06:57through intellectual
01:06:58demonstration
01:06:58that we could characterize
01:07:00the guilt
01:07:00of these drug traffickers.
01:07:05Finally,
01:07:06after three weeks
01:07:07of deliberation,
01:07:08the court handed down
01:07:09its verdict.
01:07:09The prosecution won
01:07:12beyond all hope.
01:07:14Exemplary penalties.
01:07:16Eighteen years in prison
01:07:17for Jean-Baptiste Croce
01:07:18and Joseph Morrow,
01:07:19his partner on the run.
01:07:21Fourteen to sixteen years
01:07:22for the Corsican
01:07:23godfather's lieutenants.
01:07:26And this is really
01:07:27the beginning of the end
01:07:28for the French connection.
01:07:30Less and less drugs
01:07:31are being produced
01:07:32in Marseille,
01:07:33and American traffickers
01:07:34now buy their drugs
01:07:35in South America
01:07:36and Asia.
01:07:36That's when we can say
01:07:40we won a round
01:07:41against the traffickers.
01:07:45The Americans
01:07:46thanked us for this,
01:07:48recognizing that
01:07:48we had worked hard
01:07:49and achieved good results.
01:07:51in less than three years,
01:08:01Marseille and American
01:08:02police officers
01:08:03will arrest a total
01:08:03of 560 traffickers,
01:08:06all of whom were,
01:08:06in their own way,
01:08:07links in the French
01:08:08connection.
01:08:09As a result,
01:08:10the last chemists
01:08:11on the loose
01:08:12left Marseille
01:08:12and France
01:08:13for new horizons.
01:08:14We thought we'd solve
01:08:15the heroin problem.
01:08:17In the end,
01:08:17we only displaced it.
01:08:19We are placed.
01:08:19C'est parti.
01:08:49C'est parti.
01:09:19C'est parti.
Recommandations
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