Suspected drug criminal Said A. arrested in Parisian snack bar

French police have arrested a man wanted in connection with the seizure of 120 kg of crystal meth in a car near the Dutch-Belgian border.

Said A. was arrested on Tuesday in a snack bar in Paris after being followed for hours, French media report. He is being held while arrangements are made to extradite him to Dutch authorities.

Le Parisien said that A., flanked by bodyguards, was a key member of the so-called ‘Mocro mafia’, a Dutch criminal gang with North African roots, and had ties to Mexican drug cartels.

The Dutch Public Prosecution Service confirmed that an arrest warrant had been issued for A. after police found the drug haul in a vehicle parked along the A58 highway near Gilze, North Brabant, in April this year.

The drugs were identified as methamphetamine with an estimated street value of €9.5 million. The police arrested the driver of the car, a 33-year-old man from Tilburg, at the scene.