Tracked by Interpol, a French drug trafficker was arrested in Venezuela

Gilles Tepie a été arrêté en Argentine X – GJ. Domingo Hernández Lárez

Gilles Tepie, condamné à 18 ans de prison en France, sous la menace d'une "notice rouge d’Interpol pour trafic international de drogue", a été capturé par l’armée vénézuélienne.

End of the run for Gilles Tepie. This French drug trafficker, sentenced in France to 18 years in prison and wanted by Interpol, was arrested in Venezuela on information provided by France, the Venezuelan army announced on Monday, relayed by l'AFP via Le Parisien.

Acting on "information provided by the French authorities", the army "succeeded in the capture in Carabobo State (north) of a French citizen, Interpol red notice for international drug trafficking", according to the press release broadcast on X by General Domingo Hernandez Larez, head of the strategic operational command.

En el marco del Convenio de Cooperación Bilateral en materia de lucha contra las Drogas entre Venezuela y Francia, efectivos de la #FANB procesaron información de inteligencia aportada por autoridades francesas, logrando la captura en el estado Carabobo de un ciudadano de… pic.twitter.com/SsvUxCfyAa

— GJ. Domingo Hernández Lárez (@dhernandezlarez) January 29, 2024

The text below the tweet mentions a Venezuelan accomplice who was also arrested. Gilles Tepie was sentenced in May 2014 to 18 years in prison by the Paris Criminal Court. He was one of the central figures in drug trafficking dismantled in 2010 during the seizure in Neuilly-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine) of 111 kg of cocaine, imported from Venezuela.

Already sentenced in Venezuela

At the time of his conviction, Gilles Tepie, a repeat offender, was already incarcerated in Venezuela, sentenced to sixteen years in prison also for drug trafficking. He was arrested in Caracas in April 2011. A year later, the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) of Venezuela declared that it was appropriate to extradite him to France, but postponed the extradition to France. #39;extradition on an unspecified date because he was first to face legal proceedings in Venezuela.