2015 – The La Castellane estate trial

In 2015, Marseille saw the largest police operation in France, targeting a vast drug trafficking network in the La Castellane district. A police source recalls the defendant throwing a bag containing “a million euros” out of the window of a flat on the estate shortly before an arrest. This landmark case was the subject of five podcasts, “Cartel Nord”, produced by journalists from La Provence.

Philippe Vouland, together with Jean-Louis Keita and Bruno Rebstock, defended the main defendant, whom the prosecution described as the head of the network. At the head of Tower K, “Nono” was alleged to have commanded dozens of people, from lookouts to wholesalers, generating several million euros each year from a lucrative trade in illicit substances.

The defence vigorously contested this assertion. The main challenge was to prove that their client was not the leader of the network, contrary to the prosecution’s claims.

Philippe Vouland and his colleagues set out to challenge the prosecution’s evidence, highlighting inconsistencies and doubts as to their client’s role in the trafficking. They presented a robust defence, demonstrating the absence of conclusive evidence of his status as head of the network.

Despite these efforts, the client was sentenced to eight years in prison out of a possible ten. No appeal was lodged, a sign of a certain acceptance of the verdict by the parties involved.

Listen to the Cartel Nord podcast on this case and the interview with Philippe VOULAND (in French) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSrELIxKLDo)