AND HERE IS THE NEWS…
….a quick glance at the latest local news with Caroline Manson
Investigation into murder/suicide mystery
The body of a 45 year old man was found in the bathroom of his villa in Canohès. There was a firearm nearby and a handwritten letter marked ‘will’. A few hours after the discovery of this body, the gendarmes found the lifeless body of Jérome Ladrat, 34, an estate agent who had been handling the sale of the villa in Canohès. His body was found in a caravan on land in Le Soler, which was owned by the same proprietor. An investigation into murder was opened as apparently the death was caused by gunshot wounds to the head. The seller’s family have reported that he suffered psychological difficulties and paranoid disorders but he was unknown to the justice system and had no history.
Four suspects arrested following 2 million euro robbery
In January a cash transport van was attacked by a gang in Germany. The van was blown open with explosives and the robbers fled with the sum of 2.1 million euros. A driver and a police officer were injured during the attack. There were 10 gang members, four of whom were arrested in the north of France and the ring-leaders car was geo-located to the P-O – where he was arrested near the Franco-Spanish border with 3 accomplices. The four were placed in custody and put on a plane to Paris where they are being held in pre-trial detention.
Search for man who disappeared during bike ride
46 year old Yvan Pellizzer has not been seen since he left Saleilles on his bike around 1pm on Thursday. He made one call to a colleague and mentioned he was in Cabestany near Lidl but then one hour later his phone could be tracked to being in Saint-Marsal, much much further away. He was wearing a black tracksuit with pink stripes and his mountain bike is grey with blue stripes. The gendarmes are interested in any sightings or information.
Bags of drugs thrown from window
Based on their investigations, the drugs squad and municipal police of Perpignan carried out a raid on an apartment block (Romarins). The first team showed up at the door of the apartment while others waited on the pavement outside, where they ‘noticed’ bags falling from the window of the apartment in question. On hearing the knock at the door, one of the occupants, a 51 year old woman, decided to try to get rid of the evidence by throwing it out of the window. The bags contained 1.15 kilos of cannabis resin, 135 grams of grass (worth more than 6,000€) and 1000€ in cash. In the apartment the police also discovered weighing and packaging products, and two stolen motorbikes. The woman was arrested, and also her two sons (aged 20 and 26 years old), and all three have been released, pending trial.
Sniffer dog discovers drugs hidden in crisps
Customs officers from Port-Vendres pulled over a van travelling along the coastal road. The van was registered in Spain and the driver said he was on his way from Barcelona to Lyon to deliver a load of crisps. Naturally the sniffer dog was very interested, but the officers decided it wasn’t just because of the crisps, so decided to unload the boxes. They discovered other containers filled with thermo-sealed bags full of cannabis grass. In total 250 kilos were discovered, with a street value of nearly half a million euros. In court the driver was sentenced to 30 months in prison, a 5 year ban on movement in the French territory and a customs fine of 438,000€.
Feeling Hot Hot Hot!
It is very unusual for the temperature to hit 23° in March – particularly at 4 in the morning! Usually it is just in the summer that night-time temperatures exceed 20° but on Saturday night the temperatures shot up to more than 16° higher than average. Apparently this anomaly is due to the ‘Foehn’ effect. On Friday the passage of Storm Larisa meant that the Tramontane strengthened to more than 100kmh, causing an accumulation of dry air in the foothills, so after falling to around 15° around 2am, temperatures suddenly soared and by 4am hit 23° in the Pyrénées-Orientales.
