A Lamborghini is parked in front of the Court of Appeal: upset price, 160,000 euros. On Tuesday, an auction of property seized in narcotics cases was held in the capital’s historic courthouse. At the start of the afternoon, the vast room for “major trials”, built for exceptional hearings such as the November 13 trial, is full and “more than 11,000 people” are registered on online sales platforms, specifies an organizer.
The goods follow one another until n°25, the white Lamborghini parked in front of the building. It does not find a buyer and the price drops to 120,000 euros. In the room, a man on the phone then raises his hand, a surfer immediately bids: 122, 123, 124, the two buyers are arguing up to 138,000 euros. “Adjudicated!” The user wins.
The 277 lots in the catalog that the participants leaf through are priced for a total of nearly 700,000 euros. They were all seized by the courts from persons suspected or convicted of drug trafficking, considered to have been acquired with the money from the offences. Sneakers, bags and wallets from Gucci, Yves Saint-Laurent and Vuitton were exhibited earlier in the morning, under the vaults of the Salle des Pas Perdus.
A model was dressed in Dior silk pajamas, matching a bucket hat and sandals; furniture was presented as well as a quad, a bicycle, game consoles and vacuum cleaners. In an adjoining courtroom were a row of Louboutin shoes and display cases containing Rolex watches, jewelry and gold coins. This is the “first” auction for 67-year-old Claudio. “I have time”, says this former business manager who did not wish to give his name, “there are luxury things that are out of the ordinary, I came to see them and why not buy”. His maximum budget: “30, 40,000 euros”.
Catherine is a regular at this type of sales. There, “it’s out of curiosity, for the place and then there are interesting lots”, explains this 69-year-old retiree, who also did not give her name. Regarding the purpose of the sale, “there is no reason for the state not to recover”, she believes. The sale is organized by the Agency for the Management and Recovery of Seized and Confiscated Assets (Agrasc), which has been managing assets seized by the courts since 2011, as well as by the National Directorate of State Interventions (DNID).
The sums collected must be donated to the interministerial mission for the fight against drugs and addictive behavior (Mildeca). Agrasc regularly organizes sales but this is a “first” in a “place of justice”, indicated its general manager, Nicolas Bessone. The Lamborghini was “confiscated by the Lorient court”, he explained, referring to a person, since sentenced, who “communicated a lot on social networks and who had fairly significant outward signs of wealth”.
This caught the attention of investigators and “we realized that he was in the laundering of drug trafficking, he bought luxury vehicles which he resold”, added Nicolas Bessone. More and more criminal assets are being seized: in 2022, they were valued at 770 million euros, a new record, according to the Chancellery. The Minister of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti, made a brief visit to the site, accompanied by the Minister Delegate in charge of Public Accounts Gabriel Attal.
“This crime money will be used to fight drug traffickers and help drug addicts,” said the Keeper of the Seals, who claims to want to continue to “develop” Agrasc. In the end, the sale in Paris brought in 1.28 million euros, said Agrasc at the end of the day. Added to this are some 185,000 euros from other sales (boats, vehicles) overseas in recent days, for a total of 1.46 million. In 2022, Agrasc sold movable property for 15.9 million euros and buildings with a gross value of 35.2 million were definitively confiscated.