The police investigation in Verbier uncovered the sale of large quantities of narcotics, including cocaine, ketamine, ecstasy and cannabis.
Keystone-SDA
Swiss and French police have arrested 15 suspected drug dealers operating in the mountain resort of Verbier in southern Switzerland. They also seized large quantities of narcotics and arrested 20 consumers during a year-long investigation.
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The suspects, French nationals, mainly operated in the resort of Verbier in canton Valais. They were not working together, but on the same territory, the Valais cantonal police told the Keystone-ATS news agency on Monday, stressing that “never before have so many drug-related people been arrested in one place”.
The police investigation uncovered the sale of large quantities of narcotics, including 10 kilogrammes of cocaine, as well as ketamine, ecstasy and cannabis. Eight of the suspected traffickers are still in custody “as there is a risk that those accused who are not domiciled in Switzerland might abscond”.
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Drugs were seized at the suspects’ homes and in their vehicles. In all, the police found 3 kg of cannabis, several hundred grams of cocaine, hundreds of ecstasy pills and ketamine, as well as cash.
Consumers arrested
The police operation also led to the arrest of around twenty consumers, some of them dealers. Most of them were from France, but the cantonal police also noted that some were local.
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The Office of the Attorney General of canton Valais has opened an investigation. Alleged traffickers face prison sentences of several years and expulsion from Switzerland for a minimum of five years for foreign nationals. Investigations are continuing and should lead to further arrests.
The cantonal police have collaborated with the French authorities, who have arrested and/or interviewed people in France. In Switzerland, they requested the support of their counterparts in cantons Vaud and Neuchâtel, where arrests and searches were carried out, as some of the perpetrators who had been operating in Verbier had changed their place of residence.
The “democratization” of cocaine
Since 2017, the use of illegal drugs in Switzerland has remained relatively stable, according to law enforcement agencies. But the kinds of products consumed has evolved.
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In 2017, 68% of drug-related police reports were related to cannabis products, 9% to stimulants (including cocaine, crack cocaine and amphetamines) and 21% to polydrug use. In 2023, the number of reports for cannabis had fallen to 55%, while those for stimulants had doubled to 18%. Mixed or polydrug use remains stable at 24%.
The increase in the use of cocaine in canton Valais mirrors national and international trends. This “democratization could be explained by its increased availability and the significant drop in prices, making it accessible to more modest backgrounds, particularly students”, according to the police. The concentration of a wealthy clientele or the presence of party venues could also have an impact.
Several months of investigation
The Valais police began its investigation in October 2023 and completed it in the summer 2024.
“It was a painstaking and patient piece of fieldwork that involved the participation of roughly forty people (investigators, gendarmes, police officers, border guards),” the police added.
Translated from French with DeepL/sb
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