PARIS (Reuters) -The United Arab Emirates has agreed to seize around 40 Dubai apartments and luxury villas suspected of being linked to drug trafficking in France, French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Wednesday.
Darmanin said in a post on X that the seizure of the properties, which had been bought by suspects using cash or cryptocurrencies, was part of broader judicial cooperation on international drug traffic between France and the UAE.
France had secured the extradition of 14 alleged major traffickers from the UAE so far this year, he said, adding that he had requested the arrest and extradition of around 15 more “highly dangerous” individuals.
“It is incomprehensible that drug traffickers who have built up their wealth through drugs should still be able to benefit from it today,” he said.
France is cracking down on drug trafficking domestically and accelerating international cooperation on the matter, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told reporters on Tuesday.
Nunez was visiting the southern port city of Marseille after a suspected mob killing last week, which he said was a “crime of intimidation” against those committed to fighting drug-related crime.
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi, editing by Dominique Vidalon, Aidan Lewis)
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