Their numbers are exchanged in prison, on Snapchat or even on the verge of a deal. Lawyers specialize in defending drug traffickers and their successes in the courts are praised by rappers.
This young criminal lawyer, who had barely six months at the bar, was then experiencing dazzling popularity. His number will circulate among dealers, to the point of forcing him to hire collaborators. Sign of his success, Master Zadourian is one of the tracks from DA Uzi’s latest album The path of the bravereleased in 2022.
“In court, I have nothing to fear, I have Master Le Bras”, raps Booba who frequently praises his lawyer in his songs. So that his name “circulates on radio zonzon” (prison), recognizes Yann Le Bras, who defends notorious traffickers as well as the actress Adèle Haenel.
“There is a colossal expectation from the police, the investigating judge, the prosecutor, public opinion… so heads have to roll”
In drug cases, lawyers divide the files according to “their competence in proceedings, in hearings or to raise nullities”explains the criminal.
“If you miss a procedural defect, it’s a capital mistake. When you are caught with half a ton of cocaine in a truck as was the case for two of my clients, it is very difficult to defend yourself otherwise”confides Me Tarek Koraitem, who made a name for himself by defending a cocaine dealer who supplied TV stars.
For Me Léa Canches, “the first reflex is to force a weighing and testing of the searched product”. Finding CBD can cancel a procedure.
With regard to narcotics, “the Penal Code is screwed up”believes Me Zadourian. “The same article condemns for the acquisition, the transport, the transfer, the offer and it does not matter the quantity. I had a kid who goes to court with 30 grams and comes back again three months later for 30 grams”adds the lawyer, “but this time it is no longer ten years that he risks but twenty because it is recidivism”. “There is a colossal expectation from the police, the investigating judge, the prosecutor, from public opinion, especially in Seine-Saint-Denis, so heads have to roll”abounds Me Koraitem.
“We rarely get checks or money transfers”
The criminal lawyer defended the owner of a lucrative deal in this department. After a month’s trial in Bobigny in May, Moussa Sarambounou was sentenced to twelve years in prison and a fine of one million euros.
In addition to ensuring their defence, drug dealers’ lawyers lavish ” a manual “ to avoid the jail box.
Thereby, “We avoid giving our phone code in police custody even if it constitutes an offence. It is better to be condemned for this crime than on what we will find on the phone “says a lawyer on condition of anonymity.
With regard to fees, the pricing is variable “if you’re the small trafficker who can’t even afford a kebab or the organizer who lives in Rotterdam, Dubai or Colombia”explains another lawyer, but the cases are “profitable”. “We are rarely given checks or transfers”blows the criminal lawyer, who must soon defend a tycoon extradited from Iran for having exported heroin.
For Me Mbeko Tabula, whose office is in Bobigny, “It is time to legalize cannabis in France, which is fifteen years behind the United States. Prevention has no effect”judge frankly this native of Seine-Saint-Denis.
According to Mr. Zadourian, “in countries where it is decriminalized, there is no longer any field war and when the coffee-shops get confused, we do not settle it with weapons but in the commercial court”.
