Indicted, is the mayor of Avallon involved in drug trafficking?

Jamilah Habsaoui, the mayor of Avallon, and five other people were indicted on April 10 after the discovery of 70 kilos of cannabis at the elected official's home. Was the councilor aware of the presence of drugs in her home?

After three days spent in police custody, the mayor of Avallon was indicted and placed in pre-trial detention on Wednesday April 10. Jamilah Habsaoui, various left-wing councilor of this town of Yonne, was arrested last Sunday during an "XXL clearing" operation after at least 70 kilos of cannabis were found at her home. In addition to the cannabis resin, the police also got their hands on nearly a kilo of cocaine, more than 7,000 euros in cash and two gold bars, reports franceinfo.

The Auxerre public prosecutor indicated that five other people, including the two brothers of the mayor of Avallon, were also indicted. Among them, four were placed in pre-trial detention and the last is under judicial supervision.

A judicial investigation for “drug trafficking and possession” was opened after the arrests of individuals, including Jamilah Habsaoui. But the mayor of Avallon was, initially, not one of the main targets of the police who were mainly targeting one of the brothers of the councilor already known for drug trafficking. It remains to be seen whether or not the mayor was aware of the presence of drugs in her home and the trafficking in which her brothers seem to have taken part. If the indictment and the placement in pre-trial detention suggest that the investigators have based suspicions on the involvement of the councilor, no clear communication has been made. The councilor, like the other suspects, remains presumed innocent.

The prosecutor explained in his press release that a preliminary investigation launched in October 2023 made it possible to "incriminate two brothers of Jamilah Habsaoui as being able to engage in the habitual purchase and resale of narcotics from the home of their sister. A source close to the case assured our colleagues at Le Figaro that “this operation was well prepared in advance by the investigators” who “have been working on this case for several weeks”.

The placement in police custody of Jamilah Habsaoui had already caused a reaction, but after the announcement of the indictment of the city councilor, the political forces in the mayor's region took measures. The various left-wing elected official from Avallon is also a delegated regional councilor in charge of rurality in Burgundy-Franche-Comté and a member of the majority behind the socialist president of the region, Marie-Guite Dufay. Which declared Wednesday evening in a press release that it was “suspending Jamilah Habsaoui’s delegation”. “I note his withdrawal from our political group,” she added, however, calling for “respect for his person, who has been the subject of a hate campaign on social networks in recent days, often based on its origins.