A clandestine tourist site was dismantled at L’Estaque, in the northern districts of Marseille. – J. Saint-Marc / BalthazarKorab
- An eighth person was arrested in a case of illegal rental of sea scooters (among others), in Marseille.
- Two suspects were released Wednesday evening.
- 20 minutes met on the spot witnesses of this trafficking which began several years ago.
- One of them assures us that the bosses had ended up “obtaining a monopoly” on boat rental.
“What? A rooftop around here? I never heard of it. The silence is golden under the dodger of L’Estaque. With its large red front, the structure is however not very discreet. L’ardoise offers sandwiches, burgers, pizzas, drinks and ice cream. But if we go a little deeper, we quickly see the seals placed by the police of the North division of Marseille. They arrested this Thursday an eighth person as part of the dismantling of an illegal tourist site, announces prosecutor Dominique Laurens to
20 minutes.
The two women arrested Wednesday were released in the evening. Six men are still in custody this Thursday at the headquarters of the North Division, in the 15th arrondissement. The case should be closed on Friday, ensure different sources.
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“Socio-professional integration”
The suspects “sat down to table”, confides a source close to the investigation. They should be referred on Friday. It is a priority affair for justice and the police in Marseilles: it is “revealing of practices which take place here for years. About twenty kilograms of cannabis were found there.
About twenty kilos of cannabis have been discovered, a source close to the investigation tells @ BalthazarKorab.
“Wallah, they’re crazy, they leave 20 kilos of hash guys”: a young guy not very talkative could not help reacting by learning that 4/5 #Marseille– Jean Saint-Marc (@JeanSaintMarc) July 30, 2020
The “Concept Renov” association, which says it does “the socio-professional integration of people in difficulty”, actually organized sea trips (by scooter or boat), evenings on its rooftop, all without the slightest authorization. nor a beginning of declaration to taxes, URSAFF or town hall. There were even two hotel rooms. Investigators estimate that the traffic brought in up to 250,000 euros per month.
“At the base, the association hosted foreigners, passing hippies, free of charge,” says Sam *, a young man from the neighborhood. The person sold (sic) the association pretending it was legal. Then they made the hookah bar, the snack bar, the boats. “
Cans, chairs and exercise bike
The boats are still there, behind the gates barred with a sheet: “closed park. We also see a few dead cans, chairs, a coffee table, an exercise bike. The bosses had taken out a video surveillance contract with a company well established in Marseille. “They had become the chefs in the area, plague a regular at L’Estaque. They were controlling the cars at the roundabout. It is dramatic for the tourist who wants to go there. “
This location is the only boat launching point in the north of Marseille. The other is at Pointe Rouge, twenty kilometers away, in one of the most congested areas of the city. “So they had a monopoly,” he concludes.
“It becomes panic”
While staring at the license plate of the trailer of his boat, Jean-Louis * sighs: “With my wife, we no longer came on weekends, only on weekdays. On Saturday Sundays it was impossible to park. It sang, it danced, it was a mess. This retiree lives in Château-Gombert, one of the village centers in the north of Marseille. Before going off in the English way, he concludes: “It’s becoming panic here. This Thursday, however, the place was silent. “It’s all calm. There’s not even a jet-ski, ”laments a friend of Sam *.
* Their first names have been changed.