Three Maltese nationals charged in connection with a large-scale nitrous oxide distribution operation in the French Alps have been handed eight-month prison sentences suspended for two years and fined €1,000 each by a court in Albertville.
The court also imposed a five-year ban on entering France. Prosecutors had sought an effective one-year prison term for each of the accused.
The Maltese Herald was the first local news outlet to report on this case.
The case centred on an alleged distribution network operating in the Savoy region, where the men were arrested in late January following police searches and charged with possession and transportation of nitrous oxide canisters.
French authorities said the investigation began when customs officers uncovered 13 pallets of nitrous oxide – commonly known as laughing gas – stored in industrial units in the Alps. Surveillance later identified a vehicle unloading goods at the site, while three rental vehicles were seen repeatedly transporting merchandise between the valley and a nearby resort, raising suspicions of an organised supply operation.
Searches of the suspects’ vehicles, their apartment and the storage facility led to the seizure of 6,325 canisters with an estimated value of €340,000. Officers also recovered about €5,000 and more than £1,000 in cash.
The accused were represented by Maltese lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri, assisted by French counsel Pierre-Olivier Lambert.
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