PARIS: A Briton accused of being one of Europe’s biggest drug traffickers was jailed for 22 years on Friday for smuggling over a ton of cocaine into France in suitcases stashed on an Air France flight.
The court said Robert Dawes, 46, would have to serve at least 15 years with no possibility of parole over the brazen 2013 drugs shipment from Venezuela to Paris.
Dawes, who had denied the charges, was arrested at his luxury villa on the Spanish Costa del Sol in 2015 following a lengthy investigation by authorities in Britain, France, Spain and South America.
“I continue to claim my innocence,” he said Friday morning in his final statement to the special non-jury court.
The case was tried by five judges who ordered Dawes and four accomplices — three Italians and one Briton — to pay a 30-million-euro ($34.2 million) fine.
“Far from a small-time fall guy, today we are judging men in the highest ranks of organized crime who supplied European networks,” prosecutor Isabelle Raynaud told the court during the week.
Hailing the verdict, the deputy director of Britain’s National Crime Agency, Matt Horne, describe Dawes as “one of the most significant organized criminals in Europe with a network that literally spanned the globe.”
“Dawes was prepared to use extreme levels of violence in order to further his reputation and take retribution against those who crossed him. Members or associates of his criminal group are known to have been involved in intimidation, shootings and murders,” Horne added in a statement.
The noose tightened on Dawes after Spanish police secured a video showing him bragging to a member of a Colombian drugs cartel about his ownership of the cocaine found stuffed in 30 suitcases registered to ghost travelers.
Spain extradited him to France shortly after his arrest.
Dawes had hoped to get the video dismissed on legal grounds, but a document submitted by his defense team in support of that claim turned out to be a forgery.
Dawes himself then surprised the court — and evidently his lawyers — by saying his claims in the video were “just a made-up story” intended to provoke the police into arresting him so that he could prove his innocence.
The court also passed jail terms ranging from five to 13 years on four accomplices: Britain’s Nathan Wheat, and Vincenzo Aprea, Carmine Russo and Marco Panetta of Italy.
The four were arrested after undercover officers tricked them into trying to transport some of the cocaine to Italy shortly after its arrival at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport in September 2013.
A sixth defendant, Britain’s Kane Price, was acquitted.
At the time of his arrest, Spanish police said Dawes “headed up the biggest criminal organization in Britain and Europe devoted to drug trafficking, money laundering and murder.”
He was suspected of buying large amounts of drugs from Italy’s ‘Ndrangheta mafia, which is thought to run much of Europe’s cocaine trade from Calabria.
His empire allegedly stretched from Portugal, France and Belgium to Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Venezuela and Mexico.
Dawes maintained that he and his family made their money from a variety of businesses in Spain, including furniture and window manufacturing, management consulting and property investments.
The cocaine found on the Air France flight from Caracas had a street value of some 240 million euros ($275 million).
The discovery caused a stir in Venezuela where the interior minister admitted the suitcases had gone through security scanners that had clearly showed the presence of drugs.
Venezuelan police arrested 25 people, including members of the military and an Air France manager.
British drugs kingpin gets 22 years jail in France for cocaine trafficking
British drugs kingpin gets 22 years jail in France for cocaine trafficking
- Dawes maintained that he and his family made their money from a variety of businesses in Spain
- The cocaine found on the Air France flight from Caracas had a street value of some 240 million euros ($275 million)
French prosecutors treating Tunisian’s murder as suspected terrorism
- Hichem Miraoui was shot 5 times by his white neighbor last week, in what police believe was a racist killing
- It follows mounting concerns over hate crimes against Muslims in the country
LONDON: Prosecutors in France investigating the murder of a Tunisian man are treating the case as a suspected racist attack, The Times reported on Tuesday.
Hichem Miraoui, a 46-year-old hairdresser who had lived in France for 14 years, was shot five times on Saturday by his white neighbor, a 53-year-old named as Christophe B.
The involvement of counterterrorism prosecutors instead of criminal prosecutors in the alleged far-right killing is a first in France.
It follows mounting concerns over hate crimes against Muslims in the country after Malian man Aboubakar Cisse, 22, was stabbed to death outside a mosque in April.
In last week’s killing in the southern town of Puget-sur-Argens, a 25-year-old Turkish man was also shot but survived. The killer fled the scene by car but his partner alerted police, who arrested him.
Christophe B, a sports shooting enthusiast who carried gun permits, had earlier posted videos on social media declaring that he planned to kill foreigners.
He urged his compatriots to do the same, and in one video praised the late founder of France’s National Front, Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau described the killing of Miraoui as a “racist act.” However, the minister was previously criticized for what anti-racism groups described as an inadequate response to Cisse’s murder.
Counterterrorism authorities were also questioned for failing to treat the Malian national’s killing as terrorism, with the investigation into the case being carried out by criminal prosecutors.
Retailleau on Tuesday visited the Tunisian Embassy in Paris to express solidarity with the community.
The Tunisian diaspora in France numbers more than 1 million people. More than 6 million Muslims reside in the country, about 10 percent of the population.
“Racism in France and elsewhere is a poison, and we see clearly that it is a poison which kills. Every racist act is an anti-French act,” Retailleau said.
Official government data shows that racist, xenophobic and anti-religious crimes rose by 11 percent in the country last year.
However, such crimes in France are also “vastly underreported” because “victims often don’t trust the police or the authorities,” said Jean-Marie Burguburu, chairman of the National Consultative Human Rights Commission.
Police probe missing Briton case in Malaysia
- Johnson-Doyle was last seen on May 27 in the bustling Bangsar district
- Police have asked for the public “not to speculate” about Johnson-Doyle’s disappearance
KUALA LUMPUR: The disappearance of a British man last week in Malaysia’s capital is being investigated from “all angles,” police said Tuesday.
A missing person’s report was filed, identifying the man as 25-year-old Jordan Johnson-Doyle, Kuala Lumpur police said.
Johnson-Doyle was last seen on May 27 in the bustling Bangsar district, known for its nightlife, trendy bars and cafes, according to local media reports.
“A detailed investigation, from all angles, is underway,” Brickfields district police chief Ku Mashariman Ku Mahmood told AFP.
“Those with any information are urged to contact their nearest police station,” Ku Mashariman added in a statement.
Johnson-Doyle’s mother Leanne Burnett, 44, told the Free Malaysia Today news website that her husband had traveled to Kuala Lumpur, adding “we are distraught and pray that he’s well somewhere.”
She said his family was “seeking the help of anyone who saw him at his last-known location to come forward and inform the police.”
Burnett said she was traveling to Malaysia with another son to help with the search.
Police have asked for the public “not to speculate” about Johnson-Doyle’s disappearance.
The British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur confirmed Tuesday that it would assist Johnson-Doyle’s family without naming them.
“We are supporting the family of a British man reported missing in Malaysia,” it said in a statement.
Local reports said Johnson-Doyle, a software engineer, was on a solo backpacking tour around Southeast Asia when he disappeared.
Modi’s soaring Indian aviation ambitions face many headwinds
- India’s rapid pace of aviation growth risks losing steam if plane shortages, infrastructure challenges and taxation issues are not addressed
- Hostilities with neighbor Pakistan also causing Indian airlines to take large, expensive detours around Pakistani airspace, requiring more fuel
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high-profile attendance at a global airlines conference this week underscores how much India is banking on a boom in aviation to support wider development goals, but headwinds to its ambitions are gathering force.
Undeterred by the uncertainty gripping the aviation sector globally due to trade tensions and shaky consumer confidence, India’s biggest airlines are plowing ahead with orders for new planes, following record deals two years ago.
However, the rapid pace of growth risks losing steam if plane shortages, infrastructure challenges and taxation issues are not addressed, industry officials warned at the International Air Transport Association’s annual meeting.
Hostilities with neighbor Pakistan are also causing Indian airlines to take large, expensive detours around Pakistani airspace, requiring more fuel and passenger care.
Carriers have asked the Indian government to waive some fees and provide tax exemptions, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters, but it is not clear if it will provide any help, despite its high-flying rhetoric.
New Delhi says it wants India to be a job-creating global aviation hub along the lines of Dubai, which currently handles much of India’s international traffic.
“In the coming years, the aviation sector is expected to be at the center of massive transformation and innovation, and India is ready to embrace these possibilities,” Modi told global aviation leaders on Monday.
But the transformation will require billions of dollars of investment in airports and industry supply chains, and a revamp of regulations, industry officials said.
The numbers look promising.
IATA forecasts passenger traffic in India will triple over the next 20 years and the country has set a target of increasing the number of airports to as many as 400 by 2047, up from 157 in 2024.
“We are fast emerging as a strategic connector country ... India is a natural connector of the skies and aviation as well,” India’s Civil Aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu told global airline CEOs in New Delhi.
Already the world’s third-largest aviation market by seats after the US and China, there is significant potential for India to grow.
The world’s most populous nation, India accounts for around 17.8 percent of people but only 4.2 percent of global air passengers, according to IATA.
A record 174 million Indian domestic and international passengers flew in 2024, compared to 730 million in China, IATA data shows.
“The outlook is potentially a very positive one for both the Indian economy and air transport industry. However, such outcomes are not guaranteed,” IATA said in a report on the Indian market.
Industry executives and analysts said more work lies ahead in scaling aviation-related infrastructure, updating rules, lowering taxes and making life easier for airlines.
“Even the regulators will agree that they need to update their regulation, because there is a reason why India is not punching above its weight. In fact, it is punching very much below its weight,” Association of Asia Pacific Airlines Director General Subhas Menon said.
Dubai-based Emirates, for example, says capacity restrictions on foreign airlines need to be relaxed for the industry to reach its full growth potential.
“For every seat we offer, particularly in the peaks, we’ve got three to 10 people trying to get it,” Emirates President Tim Clark told reporters.
Among other problems, India lacks enough domestic maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities to care for its fleet, making it overly dependent on foreign shops at a time of stiff competition for repair slots, particularly for engines.
Global airlines have aircraft sitting on the ground because there aren’t enough facilities available for servicing them, IATA Director General Willie Walsh said.
“I think airframe maintenance is a huge opportunity for India because you require labor and you require skills. And that’s something that I know India is investing in,” Walsh said, in response to a Reuters question at a press conference.
Airline growth globally is being tempered by extended delays to deliveries of new, more fuel-efficient planes due to supply chain issues.
India’s largest airline IndiGo has been leasing aircraft to allow it to expand internationally while it waits for new planes. This week it partnered with Air France-KLM , Virgin Atlantic and Delta to extend the reach of IndiGo tickets using those airlines’ networks.
Moscow poses no threat to Britain, says Russia’s UK embassy
- Russia’s embassy issued a statement on Tuesday criticizing what it described as “a fresh salvo of anti-Russian rhetoric“
- “Russia poses no threat to the United Kingdom and its people“
LONDON: Russia’s embassy in London said on Tuesday that Moscow had no intention of attacking Britain, rejecting accusations by the British government of growing aggression and daily cyberattacks.
Britain said on Monday it would radically change its approach to defense to address new threats, including from Russia, after endorsing the findings of an independently-produced Strategic Defense Review.
After unveiling the defense overhaul on Monday, British Defense Secretary John Healey said Europe was facing war, growing Russian aggression, new nuclear risks and daily cyberattacks.
Russia’s embassy issued a statement on Tuesday criticizing what it described as “a fresh salvo of anti-Russian rhetoric.”
“Russia poses no threat to the United Kingdom and its people,” the statement said. “We harbor no aggressive intentions and have no plans to attack Britain. We are not interested in doing so, nor do we need to.”
Relations between Russia and Britain are at their lowest level since the Cold War. They deteriorated further after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Britain and other NATO members have provided large amounts of military aid and other support to Kyiv.
China’s embassy in London also criticized Britain’s defense review, saying in a statement on Tuesday that the document deliberately misrepresented Beijing’s defense policy to justify British military expansion.
The review had described China as “a sophisticated and persistent challenge,” citing its rapid military modernization, including an expanded nuclear arsenal, and saying Beijing was likely using espionage and cyberattacks, and stealing intellectual property.
French policeman to go on trial over 2023 killing of teen that sparked riots
- The trial of the officer could take place in the second or third quarter of 2026
- “This order for a trial is both disappointing and not surprising,” said the officer’s lawyer
PARIS: The French policeman who shot and killed a teenager at point-blank range in 2023 outside Paris, sparking days of riots, is to go on trial on a murder charge, a court and prosecutors said Tuesday.
The trial of the officer, who has been charged with the murder of Nahel M., 17, could take place in the second or third quarter of 2026, the court and prosecutor in the Paris suburb of Nanterre where the killing took place said in a joint statement.
The officer, identified as Florian M., was released from custody in November 2023 after five months in detention.
Mobile footage of him shooting Nahel inside a car during a traffic control on a busy street went viral. The anger sparked protests that degenerated into rioting and led to scenes of devastation nationwide.
The police initially maintained that Nahel had driven his car at the officer but this was
contradicted by the video, which showed two officers standing outside a stationary car, with one pointing a weapon at its driver.
“This order for a trial is both disappointing and not surprising,” said Laurent-Franck Lienard, the officer’s lawyer.
“The investigating judge would have had to be courageous to take a different position than that of the prosecution” which pushed for the trial, the lawyer told AFP, adding that he would lodge an appeal against the order.
“We maintain that the shooting was legitimate,” he said.
Frank Berton, the lawyer for Nahel’s mother, expressed his “satisfaction” over the move.
“We are just seeing the law being applied... Now all that remains is to convince the court,” he said.
The move to try the officer over the death of Nahel, who was of north African origin, comes against the background of new tensions in France over racism and security.
A man who had posted racist videos shot dead his Tunisian neighbor and badly wounded a Turkish man in the south of France at the weekend, and a Malian man was stabbed to death in a mosque in April.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who is taking an increasingly hard line on immigration issues, has faced accusations of not taking a strong enough stance against such crimes and even fueling a racist climate.
But he said Monday that “every racist act is an anti-French act.”
