Gendarmes of the Marin company dismantled a cannabis cultivation at a home in Rivière-Salée.[1] The Rivière-Salée brigade had watched a resident for a month on suspicion that he was growing drugs at his home.[1] The homeowner and his son were both taken into custody.[1] After questioning, the son was released and will face proceedings for drug use through an ordonnance pénale délictuelle, France’s simplified written criminal-order procedure.[1] His father is being prosecuted for acquiring, transferring and transporting drugs and was brought before the Fort-de-France judicial court under a reconnaissance préalable de culpabilité, France’s guilty-plea procedure.[1]

Gendarmes entered the property on Tuesday 27 May and found cannabis growing outdoors and in two bedrooms converted for cultivation.[1] Officers seized 579 cannabis plants in the operation.[1] They also seized more than 2.2 kg of dried herb, 380 grams of cannabis heads and 34 grams of pollen.[1] They also seized 22 seeds, 31 sachets ready for sale and 500 euros in cash.[1]

The investigation had been guided by cannabis smells near the property and by regular visits from users.[1] The case followed several weeks of investigation by the Rivière-Salée gendarmes, part of the gendarmerie, France’s rural police force.[1]