Couscous connection

Last updated
Couscous connection
Years active1980s
TerritoryParis
EthnicityTunisian
Leader(s)Roma brothers
ActivitiesDrug trafficking
Notable members Habib Ben Ali

The couscous connection was an international drug trafficking gang based in Paris in the 1980s. The gang imported heroin and cocaine from Tunisia via Amsterdam and Brussels to Paris, where they distributed the drugs. The trial of the gang members in 1992 received widespread publicity since the younger brother of the president of Tunisia was charged and convicted in absentia for his involvement in laundering the proceeds.

Contents

Investigation

The investigation began in January 1989 after an informer gave drug squad investigators in Belleville, Paris the names of three couriers bringing heroin and cocaine from Amsterdam and Brussels to Paris. The police found that the couriers always used rental cars for which they paid in cash. The investigators obtained search warrants and permission to tap telephones. In one of the couriers' apartments they found 180 grams of heroin, a false Dutch driving license, a sawed-off rifle, savings bank receipts and invoices for jewelry purchases using cash. [1]

The investigators traced links to the "Roma brothers", and gradually built up a picture of the import and distribution networks. One of the leads took them to Hedi Ben Hassen, nephew of Frej Guedoura, chief of special services and national security in Tunisia, and Habib Ben Ali, known as Moncef, the younger brother of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. [1] In February 1990 the police tried to arrest these two at an airport before they left France for Tunisia. Ben Ali showed his diplomatic passport, explained his relationship to the president, claimed immunity and was allowed to leave. [1]

Arrest and trial

The gang had at least 30 members, of whom 25 were arrested and appeared in court. The leaders of the gang were the six Roma brothers, of whom four appeared in court and two were on the run as of 1992. An international arrest warrant was issued for Habib Ben Ali. [1]

The trial of the "couscous connection", the nickname given to the drug trafficking network, opened on 17 November 1992 in the Fourteenth Chamber of the Paris Criminal Court. Ben Ali was said to have been the bag carrier for the proceeds of the sales of heroin and cocaine trafficked between Tunisia, Amsterdam and Paris, and was charged with laundering drug money and breaking narcotics laws. He did not appear. [2] The normal broadcast in Tunisia of the news program of France's second television channel was suspended during the trial. [3] On 30 November 1992. Ben Ali was found guilty in absentia and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. [4] 23 other gang members, mostly Tunisian, were sentenced to various punishments. [5]

On 1 December 1992, Ben Ali's French lawyer met his client in Tunis. The lawyer gave a press conference in which he claimed there was no evidence that Ben Ali deserved the sentence, and that he had been convicted due to political manipulation. [6] He blamed Islamic fundamentalists for concocting the charges in an effort to tarnish the family's reputation. [3]

Mezri Haddad wrote an article in Libération in 1992 about the "Couscous connection". [7] According to the Canadian academic Lise Garon, "Haddad is probably the only Tunisian to have wrote an article about the involvement of the president's brother in international drug trafficking." [8]

Ben Ali was found murdered on 14 May 1996 in a Tunis apartment. [9] There was much speculation about who had ordered his death. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zine El Abidine Ben Ali</span> President of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, commonly known as Ben Ali or Ezzine was a Tunisian politician who served as the 2nd president of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011. In that year, during the Tunisian revolution, he fled to Saudi Arabia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Habib Bourguiba</span> President of Tunisia from 1957 to 1987

Habib Bourguiba was a Tunisian lawyer, nationalist leader and statesman who led the country from 1956 to 1957 as the prime minister of the Kingdom of Tunisia (1956–1957) then as the first president of Tunisia (1957–1987). Prior to his presidency, he led the nation to independence from France, ending the 75-year-old protectorate and earning the title of "Supreme Combatant".

Erraï is a weekly Arab language newspaper which was published in Tunis between December 1977 and December 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Kef</span> Place in Kef Governorate, Tunisia

El Kef, also known as Le Kef, is a city in northwestern Tunisia. It serves as the capital of the Kef Governorate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stade Tunisien</span> Tunisian association football club

Stade Tunisien or ST is a football club from Bardo, Tunis, Tunisia. Alongside Espérance de Tunis and Club Africain it forms the group of three best teams in the capital city region. Founded in 1948, it is the successor of the football section of the defunct Association of Young Muslims of Bardo founded in 1923. The team plays in green, red and white colours, after the Bey colours, as the team was under their patronage until the Tunisian independence. Their ground is Hedi Ennaifer Stadium, which has a capacity of 12,000.

Events from the year 1992 in France.

Tabarka–Aïn Draham International Airport, formerly Tabarka–7 November International Airport, is an airport serving Tabarka in Tunisia.

Sakher El Materi is a Tunisian businessman. He is the son-in-law of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was President of Tunisia until 2011. In 2010, Materi's company Princesse El-Materi Holdings was operating in six industry sectors: News and Media, Banking and Financial Services, Automotive, Shipping and Cruises, Real Estate and Agriculture. A member of the ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally, he was elected as a Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Tunisia for the constituency of Tunis on 25 October 2009. He was struck off by the party after the 2011 Tunisian Revolution. After the revolution El Materi fled the country and went to the Seychelles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leïla Ben Ali</span> Former First Lady of Tunisia

Leïla Ben Ali is the widow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was President of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011. She married Ben Ali in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yadh Ben Achour</span> Tunisian lawyer

Yadh Ben Achour is a Tunisian lawyer, expert on public law and Islamic political theory. President of the Higher Political Reform Commission of Tunisia, he is then member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

Tunisia, officially the Tunisian Republic, is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area is almost 165,000 square kilometres (64,000 sq mi), with an estimated population of just over 10.4 million. Its name is derived from the capital Tunis located in the north-east.

The mass media in Tunisia is an economic sector. Under the authoritarian regimes of Habib Bourguiba, and then Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, it saw periods of liberalization and then challenges, notably due to Tunisian censorship. The 2010-2011 Tunisian protests and the subsequent change in government may bring significant change in this domain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahmoud El Materi</span> Tunisian politician

Mahmoud El Materi was a Tunisian physician and politician. He was the first president and one of the founders of the Neo Destour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mezri Haddad</span> Tunisian journalist, writer, philosopher and diplomat

Mezri Haddad is a Tunisian journalist, writer, philosopher and diplomat. Haddad was a doctor of moral and political philosophy at the Paris-Sorbonne University, and the first Muslim candidate to be qualified by the National Council of French universities as a lecturer in Catholic theology. He is the author of several essays that focus on politics and religion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hassib Ben Ammar</span>

Hassib Ben Ammar was a leading Tunisian politician and journalist/editor. He was a powerful campaigner for human rights.

The 1987 Tunisian coup d'état involved the bloodless ousting of the aging President of Tunisia Habib Bourguiba on 7 November 1987, and his replacement as President by his recently appointed Prime Minister, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The action was justified by reference to Bourguiba's failing health and Article 57 of the country's constitution. Reports later surfaced to indicate that the Italian intelligence services had been involved in planning it.

Tarek Bouchamaoui is a Tunisian businessman and football personality, member of the FIFA Council, member of the executive committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and was head of CAF's referees committee from 2011 to 2013.

The Habib Bourguiba bibliography includes major books about President Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia, his biography, presidency and policies.

Habib Ben Ali, also known as Moncef El Habib Ben Ali was a Tunisian criminal and younger brother of former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hédi Mabrouk</span> Tunisian diplomat and politician (1921–2011)

Hédi Mabrouk (1921–2000) was a Tunisian statesman, diplomat and politician. After serving as governor of different provinces between 1956 and 1962 he headed various state-owned companies. He was the ambassador of Tunisia to France from 1973 to 1985 and the minister of foreign affairs for one year between 1986 and 1987. He was the last foreign minister of the Habib Bourguiba era and also, was also one of his allies.

References

    1. 1 2 3 4 Smadja 1992.
    2. ↑ Broussard 1992.
    3. 1 2 Couscous connection ... Economist.
    4. ↑ Impliqué à Paris ... Le Monde.
    5. ↑ La « couscous connection » ... 1995.
    6. ↑ Deure 1992.
    7. ↑ Mezri Haddad 1992.
    8. ↑ Garon 1998, p. 72.
    9. ↑ Oumma Media 2012.
    10. ↑ Lachheb 2011.

    Sources

    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.