Five managers of the “Saveurs gourmandes” buffet in Albi (Tarn) were arrested, four of whom were indicted for “trafficking in human beings by an organized gang”.
Five people, three men and two women, were arrested on Monday January 13, including four indicted for “trafficking in human beings by an organized gang”. A particularly serious charge, which affects those responsible for a restaurant in Albi, in Tarn, reveals the media Here Occitanie.
The restaurant “Saveurs Gourmandes”, recently renamed “L’Atlantique”, has been closed for several days following the arrest of its managers. This buffet could accommodate a thousand customers per day, including 450 at the same time. A national investigation revealed that the establishment housed employees upstairs in undignified conditions and exploited them.
It all started in April 2024, when a CODAF inspection (the public body responsible for combating fraud and illegal work) revealed the accommodation of employees by one of the largest buffets in the region. A preliminary investigation was then entrusted to the branch of the Office for the fight against illicit trafficking of migrants, of the border police (OLTIM) of Toulouse and to the Departmental Directorate of Employment, Labor and Solidarity of Tarn (DDETS 81).
More than 530,000 euros in assets seized by the courts
The investigation then expanded to the national level in October 2024, details Franceinfo. The Interministerial Research Group (GIR) of Toulouse was contacted, as well as the Central Office for the Fight against Illegal Work (OCLTI). The investigations led to the dismantling of a human trafficking ring. Eighteen victims have been identified.
The four people indicted are suspected of employing foreigners without a work permit and carrying out hidden work as part of an organized gang. Three were placed in pre-trial detention, and the fourth under judicial supervision. They will also be prosecuted for “aiding the entry, movement or illegal stay of a foreigner in France”, and “subjecting several vulnerable or dependent people to unworthy working conditions”. Justice also seized more than 530,000 euros in criminal assets: cash, bank accounts, vehicles, jewelry and luxury watches, list Franceinfo.