Paris, February 24 – Two police officers from the Paris Prefecture’s drug squad have been sentenced by the correctional court for stealing seized cocaine. The officers were found to have replaced the illicit substance with sugar paste, accumulating hundreds of thousands of euros from their illicit activities.
Lead Officer Receives Five Years, Accomplice Four
Thierry C., 60, identified as the ringleader, was handed a five-year prison sentence. His bank account, containing 600,000 euros believed to be proceeds from the thefts, will be seized. His accomplice, Christophe J., received a four-year sentence, with a deferred committal warrant issued.
The Scheme: Replacing Cocaine with Sugar Paste
The two officers, a captain and a brigadier, worked night shifts in the Paris drug squad. They were arrested in December 2022 and initially placed in pre-trial detention before being released. Both had already been dismissed from the police force, and the court issued a permanent ban on them holding any public office.
The pair, who were friends, admitted to carrying out eight substitutions of seized cocaine between June 2020 and their arrest. In total, nine kilograms of white powder were diverted, replaced with plaster or sugar paste, and then re-packaged into the original sachets. The market value of the diverted cocaine was estimated to be up to 630,000 euros, as highlighted by the correctional court president during the January hearing.
