François Thierry on trial in Bordeaux: the Myrmidon affair at the heart of a state scandal

The trial of François Thierry, former boss of’Central Office for the Repression of Illicit Drug Trafficking (OCRTIS), opened on March 2nd before the criminal court of Bordeaux. Until March 31, the former head of anti-drug efforts will appear for complicity in drug trafficking and destruction of evidence, in a sprawling case that has become, in ten years, the symbol of the excesses of the war on cannabis in France.

At the heart of the matter: a Record seizure of 7.1 tons of cannabis resin In October 2015, Exelmans Boulevard in Paris. A spectacular discovery made by customs, a few meters from the apartment of his informant, Sofiane Hambli.

An extraordinary operation

The case, described as extraordinary by the prosecution, involves 18 defendants and 70 volumes of proceedings. It originated from operations codenamed «Myrmidon,» after the warriors of Greek mythology. The stated objective of François Thierry, at the head of OCRTIS between 2010 and 2016, was to infiltrate international networks and organize supervised deliveries in order to dismantle major networks in a single procedure.

In a referral order, the magistrates recall that ’it is almost impossible to bring investigations into high-level drug traffickers to a successful conclusion without using informants,« while emphasizing that this »flexibility« has »limits.« According to them, these limits were crossed »to quite exceptional proportions.«.

The key informant, Sofiane Hambli, born in Mulhouse and nicknamed «The Chimera,» is currently serving a heavy sentence in Morocco. His absence at the hearing marked the opening of the trial. The prosecution had requested his temporary return, without success. His brother, on the other hand, is appearing in court in detention.

Seven tons right in the heart of Paris

On October 17, 2015, customs seized 7.1 tons of cannabis resin stored in vans parked in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The merchandise came from a shipment of over twelve tons imported from Morocco via Spain, officially as part of a sting operation led by the OCRTIS.

For the prosecution, Sofiane Hambli would not have been content with a mere logistical role. The judges found that the quantities imported «far exceeded» those authorized and that his involvement went beyond that of a simple informant tasked with surveillance. He is being prosecuted for trafficking as part of an organized crime ring and faces up to twenty years in prison.

As for François Thierry, he is suspected of having facilitated the import without fully informing the judicial authority or the territorially competent services, or only «in very vague terms». Investigators also point to the return of an encrypted phone to his informant while the latter was actively sought. The device has since disappeared.

The former commissioner disputes any complicity and claims the magistrates were aware of his methods. In 2023, the public prosecutor had requested that the case be dismissed in his favor, but the investigative judges decided to send him to trial.

A file that became a symbol

Beyond individual responsibilities, the case deeply impacted the judicial police. It has contributed to the reform of drug enforcement and the creation, in 2020, of the’Anti-drug office (Ofast), successor to OCRTIS. A law adopted in 2019 has more strictly regulated monitored deliveries.

But the displayed recovery has not dispelled all questions. A separate operation in Marseille in 2023 revealed other malfunctions in informant management, fueling the debate on practices tolerated in the name of operational effectiveness.

Already acquitted in 2024 in a related case concerning the organization of a fake police custody in 2012, François Thierry He currently heads the digital transformation department of the national police after being removed from the judicial police. His current trial questions less the necessity of using informants than the framework within which it operates.

Ten years after the spectacular seizure on Boulevard Exelmans, the «Myrmidon» case still poses the same questions: how far can the state go in the fight against cannabis trafficking without weakening the rule of law it seeks to defend? And for what effectiveness ?