Six Algerians are due to go on trial in Paris this week for aggravated human trafficking. They are suspected of getting unaccompanied foreign minors hooked on psychotropic drugs to get them to steal near the Eiffel Tower.
The six defendants, aged between 23 and 39, will also stand trial on Thursday for trafficking in narcotics and psychotropic drugs, as well as handling stolen goods.
A seventh defendant will be tried for trafficking in psychotropic drugs and handling stolen goods between March and mid-June 2022, but not for trafficking.
Several dozen children are thought to have fallen into their network, 17 of whom were identified by investigators.
According to the committal order, the youngest was barely seven years old at the time of the offences, while the oldest was 16.
Their "meandering route" – which began with them crossing the Mediterranean from Morocco or Algeria – led them to the square in front of the Trocadero, one of the French capital's most popular tourist spots.
There, the six adults are accused of having supplied them with psychotropic drugs, "initially free of charge", the examining magistrate explained.
Le 14 décembre à Paris s’ouvrira le procès de 6 ressortissants algériens, accusés d’avoir gavé de psychotropes des dizaines de mineurs isolés marocains, pour mieux les contraindre ensuite à détrousser les passants au pied de la tour Eiffel.
— Thierry Baubet (@TBaubet) December 9, 2023
via @lemondefr https://t.co/imcMnhdH43
Quoted in the court order, a 10-year-old Moroccan child said, "They told me: 'Here, take this, it'll make you feel better.
"I took half a tablet of Rivotril and then I just kept going and going and going", taking doses that "made him steal" phones and jewellery "and even get violent".
The combination of the psychotropic drugs Rivotril and Lyrica caused "a total dissociation of the body and mind of young users," the magistrate said.
The traffickers saw the use of pyschotropics as a "recruitment tool" to create a strong dependence among the children in order to make a financial profit.
Twelve minors have joined as civil parties in the trial, through an ad hoc administrator appointed by the court to defend their interests.
Kids 'no angels' but still victims
Kathleen Taieb, a lawyer for one of the children and a veteran of trafficking cases has said, "This trial is important, because it is the first time that they have not been arrested as perpetrators, but have been considered as victims.
Admittedly, "these kids are no angels, but "you can't effectively combat public disorder if you repress the victims. We need to protect them by giving them access to their rights, to child protection centres," Guillaume Lardanchet, director of the Hors la Rue association, which identifies and supports foreign minors at risk, said.
For Céline Astolfe, lawyer for Hors La Rue, "If these minors commit crimes, it's under duress and chemical influence. This is the right approach: we need to focus on those who coerce ... They are the dangerous delinquents and not the other way round."
Guillaume Lardanchet directeur de @Hors_La_Rue "les #mineursetrangers invisible pour les institutions" pic.twitter.com/IMm1cnuhAr
— Hors La Rue (@Hors_La_Rue) June 1, 2015
No modern day 'Oliver Twist'
The investigations were based on physical surveillance and bugging – the investigators had placed microphones on a bench where the suspects were accustomed to sitting.
They showed that the square in front of the Trocadéro was "divided" between fortune-tellers, street vendors and under-age thieves.
The latter occupied "the central staircases" under the eye of the adults who remained "slightly behind".
The adults are accused of buying psychotropic drugs in Aubervilliers north of Paris, and around the Barbès metro station near Montmartre.
Matthieu Juglar, lawyer for one of the defendants – who admits to selling psychotropic drugs but denies any coercion of the minors said the case had been blown out of proportion.
"They wanted to turn this into an Oliver Twist case, but that's not what it is," he added, referring to the Charles Dickens novel in which the hero joins a gang of young pickpockets.
The trial is due to last until 20 December.
