A man in his sixties was charged on Monday, February 16, after the discovery of a large arsenal in a cellar in Propriano (South Corsica). He is being prosecuted, in particular, for storing weapons and explosives, possessing weapons of war, and criminal conspiracy.
According to the Ajaccio prosecutor, the gendarmes seized 18 kilos of civilian and military explosives, 67 detonators, about forty grenades, thousands of meters of fuse, and around twenty firearms, including assault rifles, a submachine gun, and shotguns. The operation required the intervention of bomb disposal experts and the securing of the surrounding area.
A case with still unclear ramifications
Given the nature of the material discovered, the specialized interregional court in Marseille took over the case. The suspect was placed under judicial supervision with strict conditions, as the judge of freedoms and detention did not order his pretrial detention.
The defendant's lawyers claim he was unaware of the existence of this hiding place. His son, currently on trial in another arms trafficking case involving Corsica, Switzerland, and Sardinia, claims to have used the cellar, but the prosecution maintains at this stage that the two cases are unrelated.
