Jamilah Habsaoui, the mayor of Avallon, as well as five other people were indicted on April 10 after the discovery of 70 kilos of cannabis at the elected official’s home. Was the councilor aware of the presence of drugs in her home?
70 kg of cannabis, almost a kilo of cocaine, twenty gold bars and 7,000 euros in cash. This is the loot discovered at Jamilah Habsaoui, the mayor of Avallon (Yonne), during a seizure carried out as part of a law enforcement operation. Seven people were arrested, including the councilor but also two of his brothers, suspected of having used the family home to “store the goods”. Jamilah Habsaoui and five other people were then indicted and placed in pre-trial detention as part of an investigation for “drug trafficking”.
A judicial investigation for “drug trafficking and possession” was opened after the arrests of individuals, including Jamilah Habsaoui. But the mayor of Avallon was not, initially, one of the main targets of the police who were mainly targeting one of the brothers of the councilor already known for drug trafficking. It remains to be seen whether or not the mayor was aware of the presence of drugs in her home and the trafficking in which her brothers seem to have taken part. If the indictment and the placement in pre-trial detention suggest that the investigators have well-founded suspicions about the involvement of the councilor, no clear communication has been made. The councilor, like the other suspects, remains presumed innocent.
Jamilah Habsaoui “wasn’t aware”
The lawyer for Rachid Habsaoui, one of the two brothers of the mayor of Avallon, states in an interview with France 3 that his client admits the facts with which he is accused. And that he exonerates his sister. Me César Lauwerie explains that his client “recognizes the facts of drug trafficking.” Rachid Habsaoui “indicates that his sister was not aware that the drugs were stored in Avallon’s home” and that they “were kept without the knowledge and consent of his sister”.
The prosecutor explained in his press release that a preliminary investigation launched in October 2023 made it possible to “incriminate two brothers of Jamilah Habsaoui as being able to engage in the habitual purchase and resale of narcotics from the home of Jamilah Habsaoui. their sister. A source close to the matter assured our colleagues of Figaro that “this operation was well prepared in advance by the investigators” who “have been working on this case for several weeks”.
Political withdrawal of Jamilah Habsaoui
The placement in police custody of Jamilah Habsaoui had already caused a reaction, but after the announcement of the indictment of the city councilor, the political forces in the mayor’s region took measures. The various left-wing elected official from Avallon is also the delegated regional councilor in charge of rurality in Burgundy-Franche-Comté and a member of the majority behind the socialist president of the region, Marie-Guite Dufay. Which declared Wednesday evening in a press release that it was “suspending Jamilah Habsaoui’s delegation”. “I note his withdrawal from our political group,” she added, however, calling for “respect for his person, who has been the subject of a hate campaign on social networks in recent days, often based on its origins.