Kamel Chikhi's Cocaine Scandal Before Justice on June 15
The Algerian judicial authorities will open the heaviest case related to the smuggling of hard drugs 'cocaine', in which Kamal Chikhi, known as 'Le Boucher' (the butcher), is being prosecuted on June 15, where the defendants in the file will appear before the Criminal Court of First Instance in Dar El Beida, Algiers, for importing, exporting and storing drugs within an organized criminal gang and money laundering.
After 7 full years have passed since the scandal known as 'The Butcher and Cocaine', the case returns to the forefront through the programming of the huge file, as a transcontinental crime on June 15, where, according to the referral decision, Kamal Le Boucher will appear alongside his two brothers, 'Nacer and Mohamed Chikhi', along with the main accused's partner, who is considered his relative called 'B. Nadjib', who are currently in temporary detention in Algiers Harrache penal institution.
The 'Butcher and Cocaine' file was referred by the investigating judge of the ninth chamber of the Sidi M'hamed Court on May 23, 2021, to the Public Prosecutor of the Algiers Judicial Council, who in turn referred it to the indictment chamber of the same judicial body, which in turn rejected on June 30, 2021, the requests of the defence established in the case, including requests to release all the accused detained in the case, to finally decide to refer the file to the Criminal Court of First Instance in Dar El Bida.
According to the information of the case, the owner of the transit office in charge of the legal procedures for the meat shipments imported by Kamal Chikhi Company, known as 'El-Bouchi', stated during the investigation with him that the serial number of the container carrying the cocaine shipment was not included in the serial numbers recorded in all the documents related to the meat shipment coming from Brazil.
As for the numbers, the investigation documents stated that the cocaine shipment consisted of 603 plates of white powder packed inside 34 boxes, with a total weight of '701 kg', and each box weighed 820 grams.
The investigations revealed that 590 plates were covered with a transparent plastic outer cover, while the remaining plates, estimated at 13, were without an outer cover.
Over 40 unused red waterproof bags, 15 water lamps, two iron chains, two ropes, a battery for operating the water lamps, two adhesive plastic tapes, and administrative files of the company under investigation, owned by the suspect Kamel Chikhi, were also found.
The technical report revealed that six samples were analysed. Technical expertise showed that the suspected substance was cocaine with a purity of 85%, intended for wholesale trade, and is not consumed until after it is processed, where its weight increases 10 times, which means that the cocaine shipment when processed in the laboratory to prepare it for consumption weighs 70 quintals.
The Ministry of Defense had confirmed, in a statement at the time, that 'the border guards, in coordination with the National Gendarmerie and Customs, foiled an attempt to smuggle a huge amount of cocaine reaching 701 kg in the wilaya of Oran (Western Algeria).'
The seized drugs are the largest quantity seized in Algeria since 2012 when 165 kilograms of cocaine were seized, smuggled with milk powder imported from New Zealand.
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