Couscous Connection
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Couscous Connection
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. 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 c ...
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Habib Ben Ali
Habib Ben Ali, also known as Moncef El Habib Ben Ali ( ar, حبيب بن علي or ar, منصف الحبيب بن علي; born on August 21, 1941 and died on May 15, 1996 in Tunis) was a Tunisian criminal and younger brother of former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Activities In France, his base was in Belleville from where he managed drug trafficking as well as other criminal activities ( procuring, racketeering, etc.). He also owned cafes, pizzerias, agriculture and real estate as well as import-export companies in IT and luxury cars. Trial and sentencing He was sentenced in absentia, in the so-called couscous connection case, on November 30, 1992 to ten years in prison and an indefinite ban on access to French territory by the 14th Chamber of the Correctional Court of Paris. He was accused of having transported money from international trafficking in heroin and cocaine between the Netherlands, France and Tunisia while his lawyer, Jean-Yves Leborgne, denounced a "po ...
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Drug Trafficking
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug injection, injection, smoking, ingestion, absorption (skin), absorption via a dermal patch, patch on the skin, suppository, or sublingual administration, dissolution under the tongue. In pharmacology, a drug is a chemical substance, typically of known structure, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. A pharmaceutical drug, also called a medication or medicine, is a chemical substance used to pharmacotherapy, treat, cure, preventive healthcare, prevent, or medical diagnosis, diagnose a disease or to promote well-being. Traditionally drugs were obtained through extraction from medicinal plants, but more recently also by organic synthesis. Pharmaceutical drugs may be used ...
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Heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brown powders sold illegally around the world as heroin have variable "cuts". Black tar heroin is a variable admixture of morphine derivatives—predominantly 6-MAM (6-monoacetylmorphine), which is the result of crude acetylation during clandestine production of street heroin. Heroin is used medically in several countries to relieve pain, such as during childbirth or a heart attack, as well as in opioid replacement therapy. It is typically injected, usually into a vein, but it can also be smoked, snorted, or inhaled. In a clinical context, the route of administration is most commonly intravenous injection; it may also be given by intramuscular or subcutaneous injection, as well as orally in the form of tablets. The onset of effects is usuall ...
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Cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South America, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense''. After extraction from coca leaves and further processing into cocaine hydrochloride (powdered cocaine), the drug is often Insufflation (medicine), snorted, applied topical administration, topically to the mouth, or dissolved and injection (medicine), injected into a vein. It can also then be turned into free base form (crack cocaine), in which it can be heated until sublimated and then the vapours can be smoking, inhaled. Cocaine stimulates the mesolimbic pathway, reward pathway in the brain. Mental effects may include an euphoria, intense feeling of happiness, sexual arousal, psychosis, loss of contact with reality, or psychomo ...
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President Of Tunisia
The president of Tunisia, officially the president of the Tunisian Republic ( ar, رئيس الجمهورية التونسية), is the head of state of Tunisia. Tunisia is a presidential republic, whereby the president is the head of state and head of government. Under Article 77 of the Constitution of Tunisia, the president is also the commander-in-chief of the Tunisian Armed Forces. The incumbent president is Kais Saied who has held this position since 23 October 2019 following the death of Beji Caid Essebsi on 25 July 2019. 2022 Tunisian constitutional referendum turned Tunisia into a presidential republic, giving the president sweeping powers while largely limiting the role of the parliament. Elections The president is elected by universal suffrage by majority during elections held in the last sixty days of the previous presidential term. Article 74 of the Tunisian Constitution of 2014, Constitution establishes that the right to presidential candidacy is open to every Tun ...
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Belleville, Paris
Belleville () is a neighbourhood of Paris, France, parts of which lie in four different arrondissements. The major portion of Belleville straddles the borderline between the 20th arrondissement and the 19th along its main street, the ''Rue de Belleville''. The remainder lies in the 10th and 11th arrondissements. It was once the independent commune (municipality) of Belleville which was annexed by the City of Paris in 1860 and divided between two arrondissements. Geographically, the neighborhood is situated on and around a hill which vies with Montmartre as the highest in Paris. The name Belleville literally means "beautiful town". History Historically, Belleville was a working-class neighborhood. People living in the independent village of Belleville played a large part in establishing the Second French Republic through their actions during the Revolution of 1848. In 1871, residents of the incorporated neighborhood of Belleville were some of the strongest supporters of th ...
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Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ( ar, زين العابدين بن علي, translit=Zayn al-'Ābidīn bin 'Alī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali ( ar, بن علي) or Ezzine ( ar, الزين), 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. Ben Ali was appointed Prime Minister in October 1987. He assumed the Presidency on 7 November 1987 in a bloodless coup d'état that ousted President Habib Bourguiba by declaring him incompetent. Ben Ali was subsequently reelected with enormous majorities, each time exceeding 90% of the vote; his final re-election coming on 25 October 2009. Ben Ali was the penultimate surviving leader deposed in the Arab Spring who was survived by Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, the latter dying in February 2020. On 14 January 2011, following a month of protests against his rule, he fled to Saudi Arabia along with his wife Leïla ...
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Mezri Haddad
Mezri Haddad (born 2 July 1961 in Le Kram) 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 (Islam and Christianity). He regularly contributes to the press in France ('' Le Figaro'', ''Libération'' and '' Le Monde''), Belgium ('' Le Soir'') and Switzerland ('' Tribune de Genève'') and has made several appearances on France 24, LCI, Public Sénat, France Ô and France 2. He was also, from 2007 to 2009, co-director of the Daedalos Institute of Geopolitics, a think tank based in Nicosia created at the initiative of the Cypriot Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In late 2009 he was appointed ambassador to UNESCO, a post he resigned in January 2011 before the fall of Zine El Abidine Ben ...
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Libération
''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's political spectrum, the editorial line evolved towards a more centre-left stance at the end of the 1970s. Its editorial stance was centre-left as of 2012. The publication describes its "DNA" as being "liberal libertarian". It aims to act as a common platform for the diverse tendencies within the French Left, with its "compass" being "the defence of freedoms and of minorities". Edouard de Rothschild's acquisition of a 37% capital interest in 2005, and editor Serge July's campaign for the "yes" vote in the referendum establishing a Constitution for Europe the same year, alienated it from a number of its left-wing readers. In its early days, it was noted for its irreverent and humorous style and unorthodox journalistic culture. All employ ...
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1990 Crimes In France
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Mesopotamia is partitioned into two Roman provinces divided by the Euphrates, Mesopotamia and Osroene. * Emperor Septimius Severus lays siege to the city-state Hatra in Central-Mesopotamia, but fails to capture the city despite breaching the walls. * Two new legions, I Parthica and III Parthica, are formed as a permanent garrison. China * Battle of Yijing: Chinese warlord Yuan Shao defeats Gongsun Zan. Korea * Geodeung succeeds Suro of Geumgwan Gaya, as king of the Korean kingdom of Gaya (traditional date). By topic Religion * Pope Zephyrinus succeeds Pope Vi ...
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Illegal Drug Trade In Europe
Illegal, or unlawful, typically describes something that is explicitly prohibited by law, or is otherwise forbidden by a state or other governing body. Illegal may also refer to: Law * Violation of law * Crime, the practice of breaking the criminal law * An illegal immigrant, a person that performed illegal immigration Entertainment * ''The Illegal'' (novel) (2015), by Canadian writer Lawrence Hill Films * ''Illegal'' (1932 film), British * ''Illegal'' (1955 film), American * ''Illegal'' (2010 film), Belgian * ''The Illegal'' (2019), film starring Suraj Sharma Music * Illegal (group), a 1990s rap group * "Illegal" (song), a track from pop singer Shakira's 2005 release, ''Oral Fixation Vol. 2'' See also * * ''Illegal agent'', also known as Non-official cover * Illegals Program, Russian spies arrested in the United States in 2010 * The Illegal (other) * Illegalism Illegalism is a tendency of anarchism that developed primarily in France, Italy, Belgium ...
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Heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brown powders sold illegally around the world as heroin have variable "cuts". Black tar heroin is a variable admixture of morphine derivatives—predominantly 6-MAM (6-monoacetylmorphine), which is the result of crude acetylation during clandestine production of street heroin. Heroin is used medically in several countries to relieve pain, such as during childbirth or a heart attack, as well as in opioid replacement therapy. It is typically injected, usually into a vein, but it can also be smoked, snorted, or inhaled. In a clinical context, the route of administration is most commonly intravenous injection; it may also be given by intramuscular or subcutaneous injection, as well as orally in the form of tablets. The onset of effects is usuall ...
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