A nationwide clampdown on the drugs trade, ordered by the Interior minister and nicknamed operation 'place nette XXL' (XXL clear-up) appears to have netted the mayor of a small town in eastern France.
Jamilah Habsaoui, mayor of Avallon since 2021 and also a regional councillor, was one of several targets for police raids after an investigation into drug trafficking in the town lasting several weeks, prosecutor Hugues de Phily told AFP.
Avallon, population 6,000, is part of the Morvan national park in the Burgundy region of eastern France.
The prosecutor said the mayor's home, the town hall and the pharmacy where Habsaoui worked were all searched but did not give the amount of drugs found at her home. An investigation source said 70kg of cannabis was seized.
Habsaoui and two of her brothers were among seven people detained, according to the prosecutor who added that other parts of the investigation had uncovered 983 grammes of cocaine, €7,000 in cash and about 20 gold ingots.
The operation was carried out as part of a nationwide campaign to clampdown on the growing drugs trade in French cities.
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