Albanian cartel, torture videos, and cocaine in secondhand clothing: The PJF tries its first criminal case

The trial chamber of the Financial Judicial Pool (PJF) held its first criminal hearing on April 1st. The trials were presided over by Magistrate Pape Mohamed Diop, president of the financial trial chamber.

Among the three drug trafficking cases on the docket is that involving M. Diagne, D. Soumaré alias L. Lass, KFBVD Weken, AA Ba, and PM Dieng. The group is being prosecuted for criminal conspiracy, international drug trafficking, and attempted international drug trafficking.

However, the debates did not take place on the merits in this case, because the defense raised exceptions based on violations of the rights of the defense and on the duration of the custody measures of the accused.

It was Mr. François Senghor who raised the issue of the procedure's invalidity. He pointed out that the defendants had stated their wish to be represented by a lawyer and that their families were to handle this. However, according to the lawyer, the investigators' report failed to mention the follow-up to their request. On another point, Mr. Senghor specified that the legal duration of police custody is 48 hours, renewable only once. Yet, the investigators granted an additional extension. Citing the provisions of Regulation 55, Mr. Senghor argued for the procedure's invalidity.

Attorney Ousseynou Ngom stated that the case did not involve terrorism or threats to state security. Therefore, the custody should have been renewed only once. Attorney Ngom cited a Supreme Court precedent. According to him, the invalidation of the preliminary investigation report benefits all defendants. Attorney Alioune Badara Fall went further, asserting that there was no written and substantiated request for an extension of custody in the case file. Their colleagues, Attorneys Ibamar Diop, Mamadou Seck, Farama Mané, and Amadou Aly Kane, joined in their arguments.

In his observations, Deputy Financial Prosecutor Abdoulaye Diouf stated that the judicial police officers (OPJ) complied with their obligation to inform the defendants of their right to legal counsel. However, according to the prosecutor's office, the defendants failed to provide the OPJs with contact information for family members who were required to retain legal counsel for their defense. On this point, the prosecutor maintains that the rights of the defense were not violated.

On the second point, the prosecution argues that, upon analysis of the case file, the extension of police custody is indeed present. According to them, no procedural irregularities can be established. The prosecutor requested that the objections be dismissed.

Mr. Senghor countered, maintaining that he had photocopied the court transcript, but that he did not see an authorization to extend police custody bearing the public prosecutor's stamp. The prosecutor asserts that the facts fall under the category of organized crime to maintain his position.

The chamber joined the objections to the merits before adjourning the case to May 13, 2026 for the appearance of the whistleblower, CAT Diagne.

A look back at the facts

This is a network with ramifications between Senegal, Belgium, Gambia, and the United Arab Emirates, against a backdrop of alleged cartel activity and violent score-settling. According to the committal order issued by the judge of the 3rd chamber of the Federal Judicial Police (PJF) on November 30, 2023, CAT Dia, a taxi driver, was asked to transport a package presented as secondhand clothing to Pikine. But one detail raised suspicions. Becoming suspicious, he alerted an acquaintance at the Central Office for the Repression of Illicit Drug Trafficking (OCRTIS). After verification, it was confirmed that the package contained drugs, concealed in clothing.

Initial phone records quickly led investigators to two numbers linked to AA Ba and Mr. Diagne. The latter, questioned and formally identified by the driver, gave a version of events that was as disturbing as it was alarming.

Albanian cartel, threats and torture videos

According to his statements, Mr. Diagne was contacted by individuals based in Belgium, including a certain A. Mbow, who explained to him that his own brother had diverted a shipment of cocaine belonging to a notoriously violent Albanian cartel.

Very quickly, the pressure escalated: death threats, calls from abroad, and even a video showing A. Mbow being mistreated. Panicked, Mr. Diagne claimed to have found his brother in the Mbao forest, where he retrieved 10 kilograms of cocaine. It was this merchandise that he then attempted to have delivered.

A booby-trapped delivery that brings down the network

Thanks to the driver's cooperation and a monitored delivery operation, investigators arranged a first meeting at the Sédima roundabout, then a second in Zac Mbao. It was there that D. Soumaré, alias Lanssana Lass, was apprehended in the act, along with PM Dieng, suspected of having acted as a scout during the first, aborted meeting. Shortly afterward, KFBVD Veken, a Belgian national based in Dubai, was also arrested. The search yielded hashish, packaging materials, and several foreign currencies, typical indicators of drug trafficking.

The exploitation of mobile phones will reveal the extent of the network: encrypted exchanges via Signal, contacts in Europe, North Africa and as far as Latin America, money transfers via Wave, reinforcing the theory of a structured organization.

KVD Veken even mentions an initial shipment of 50 kilograms of cocaine intended to transit from Gambia to Belgium via Dakar, involving several intermediaries, including a certain Edouard Njei.

Before the investigating magistrate, several defendants recanted their initial statements. Veken spoke of police pressure and denied any involvement in a cartel. He now referred to it as a simple project related to hydrogen.

D. Soumaré admits to possessing hashish, but claims it was for personal use. PM Dieng downplays his role. As for AA Ba, he denies any connection to the events, despite troubling phone conversations, even admitting to destroying a SIM card.