Seizure of 2.5 tonnes of cannabis resin in 1996 in Gard, a British man sentenced by the Assize Court

The attorney general, Jean-Luc Vasserot, requested 10 years of criminal imprisonment. Midi Libre – C.R.

Me Marie-Camille Roch était l’avocate de l’accusé. Midi Libre – C.R.

Carmien Owen est l’une des 15 personnes mises en cause dans un trafic de drogue colossal entre le Maroc et la France. Les douaniers avaient saisi 2,5 tonnes de résine de cannabis, dans un voilier, à Port Camargue en 1996.

Carmien Owen is one of 15 people implicated in a resounding case of drug importation and trafficking (cannabis resin) in a marina in Port-Camargue, in Grau-du -King. Sentenced by default to 10 years in prison, this Briton who lived in Canada was the subject of an arrest warrant. He was arrested several months ago in Great Britain and extradited in April 2023. He has since been incarcerated in the Nîmes remand center. Carmien Owen was tried this March 28 and March 29, 2024 by the Gard Assize Court.

Customs officers on the lookout in Port-Camargue

On November 21, 1996, after several days of surveillance in Port-Camargue, customs officers intercepted, at Grau-du-Roi, a sailboat, the Lady Duncan , who after trying to approach in Port Camargue, had set sail again. The sailboat was transporting 2.5 tonnes of cannabis resin. The goods were valued at 104.7 million francs (or approximately 16 million euros) at the time. Three men were on board the sailboat. On land, Michel Sherman, an American presented as the mastermind of this international trafficking, and one of his accomplices had time to flee. The search in the marina acquired by Michaël Sherman had been successful. Investigators had seized numerous French and foreign currencies as well as all the equipment in this cannabis resin packaging workshop.

Mickaël Sherman was sentenced to 15 years of criminal imprisonment in 2011

Implicated in this trafficking of cannabis resin between Morocco, Spain and France and the Netherlands, Mickaël Sherman, a Californian (USA) on the run, was é arrested then condemned &agrav; 15 years of criminal imprisonment by the Gard Assize Court in 2011. He had acquired a marina in 2011. Port-Camargue. Barry Daffer (USA) who had beené arrested at Grau-du-Roi in 1996, wasé condemned &agrav; 15 years of imprisonment in 1999.

Accused of importing drugs into an organized gang of cannabis resin, of drug trafficking, Carmien Owen was one of the little hands of this network and stayed in the Alpes-Maritimes where the laundering was organized of  drugs.

The Briton specialized in IT. He was accused, among other things, of having transported a large sum of money to Germany.

He found refuge in spirituality

Clothed in white, Carmien Owen, originally from Nottingham, England, spoke at length this Thursday before the Gard Criminal Court. He is no longer the young man of the 1990s. He is also a man weakened and battered by life who has found refuge in spirituality.

The attorney general, Jean-Luc Vasserot requested 10 years in prison and a permanent ban from French territory. Defended by Me Marie-Camille Roch, the accused was sentenced to 5 years in prison and permanently banned from French territory. He is ordered to pay a customs fine, the amount of which is impressive: 10,671M€.

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