Five sentenced in Béziers prison-run cannabis network; six years for organiser
The Béziers criminal court convicted five members of a drug network run from the city's prison, where a 25-year-old inmate coordinated cannabis, cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy deliveries with suppliers in Toulouse and Málaga. The organiser received six years, and gendarmes had arrested the five on 20 July 2026, seizing several kilograms of cannabis resin and herb.
🇫🇷 Béziers, Hérault · France
·
Arrested
5
Convicted
5
Sentenced
5
Prison
6 years for the organiser; 3 years, 24 months and 2 years for the others
Agencies
National Gendarmerie (France), Béziers public prosecutor's office +1
The Béziers criminal court sentenced five members of a cannabis, cocaine,
ketamine and ecstasy network on 7 September 2026, all of them convicted.[1]The network was run by a 25-year-old man from his cell at the Béziers
penitentiary centre, where he was serving a three-year sentence given in 2024
for drug trafficking.[2]
Gendarmes from the Lodève research brigade opened the inquiry on 20 January 2026
and made the arrests in an operation on 20 July 2026.[1]Five people were
taken into police custody after the 20 July operation.[3]Searches seized
several kilograms of cannabis resin and herbal cannabis, cocaine and synthetic
drugs, money and a vehicle.[1]Another man, living at Argeliers in the Aude,
cleaned up the cannabis with a machine, a step the reports call “curage”.[2]
The main organiser was given six years in prison with continued detention and a
five-year ban on staying in Béziers.[1]His partner was sentenced to three
years, half of it suspended with probation, with a deferred committal order.[1]A third defendant got 24 months, ten of them suspended with probation, with
a previous suspended sentence fully revoked and his detention maintained.[1]The last two defendants were each given two years, one of them suspended with
probation, with the prison part served under electronic tagging.[1]All five
were also fined between 2,500 and 10,000 euros, and the court ordered the
confiscation of the seized goods including a vehicle.[1]
The five were sentenced to terms running from two years to six years in prison,
as the prosecutor’s statement summarised them.[3]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
5
Convicted
5
Sentenced
5
Prison
6 years for the organiser; 3 years, 24 months and 2 years for the others
Fine
EUR 10,000
Vehicles confiscated
1
Agencies
National Gendarmerie (France); Béziers public prosecutor's office; Béziers criminal court
France 3 Régionsfrance3-regions.franceinfo.frFRDéjà en prison pour trafic de drogue, il pilotait un réseau jusqu'en Espagne : le détenu et cerveau âgé de 25 ans condamné à six ans de plus, ses quatre complices incarcérés
ICIici.frFRUn réseau de trafic de drogue géré depuis la prison de Béziers a été démantelé, il était piloté par un détenu
Open questions the AI reported
The reports give no precise weight for the cannabis resin and herb, only "plusieurs kilogrammes" (several kilograms), so no cannabis weight is recorded.
No figure for the number of plants or grow sites was published; the network's suppliers were not described as cultivators.
Hérault Tribune describes the partner's suspended term as 18 months, which matches the 'half of three years' in the submitted article, but no account gives the exact firm part.
No value estimate for the seized drugs was published.
The case is at first instance; the accounts do not say whether an appeal was filed.
The 25-year-old organiser is identified by age only, and no names were given for the other defendants.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in actu.fr: From prison he oversaw suppliers based in Toulouse and in Málaga, Spain, kept the network's accounts and coordinated cannabis, cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy deliveries as far as Rodez and Mende.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in actu.fr: Two suspects were remanded in custody after being brought before the prosecutor on 22 July, and two more were jailed after an immediate-appearance hearing on 23 July.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in actu.fr: The Béziers prosecutor, Arnaud Faugère, announced the convictions in a statement on 11 September 2026.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Hérault Tribune: The Hérault Tribune account, citing the Béziers prosecutor's office, described the 25-year-old as still directing the network from his cell.
Left out charged, as its quotation was not found in actu.fr.
A 28-year-old driver tested positive for cannabis after rear-ending a car and injuring its driver at Percy-en-Normandie on 2 January 2026. The Coutances court sentenced him on 10 November 2026 to six months suspended imprisonment and cancelled his driving licence.
The criminal court in Troyes sentenced 47-year-old Ramzi Nefzaoui to 14 months in firm prison for drug trafficking and issued an arrest warrant. The case began when gendarmes stopped his Renault Laguna at Barberey-Saint-Sulpice in December 2025 and found cannabis resin, herb, cash and a scale.
The Fontainebleau criminal court sentenced a driver to five years in prison, including two years firm, over a fatal 2021 crash at Souppes-sur-Loing in which his 20-year-old passenger died. The court heard he had drunk alcohol and smoked cannabis and was driving at 135 km/h in a 30 km/h zone.
Anti-crime police in Passamaïnty, Mayotte, broke up a drug deal on 4 November 2026 and seized 3.334 kg of cannabis and 8,495 euros in cash from a suspected stash flat; three people were arrested. Two young men were tried in Mamoudzou on 9 November and sentenced to 30 months with 12 suspended and a 15-month suspended term.