French anti-drugs police officer jailed for stealing huge cocaine haul

A French policeman responsible for suppressing drug trafficking in Paris was sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing almost €2m (£1.7m) worth of cocaine.

Jonathan Guyot was found guilty of stealing 52kg of cocaine from a safe at the national police headquarters in Prison, according to AFP.

Security guards testified that they had seen Guyot enter the headquarters and leave with two bags on the night the drugs went missing in July 2014.

He was arrested a week later after police found him in possession of €24,000 (£21,000) and the security codes for the safe on his mobile phone.

The judge sentenced 36-year-old Guyot to 10 years in prison, the maximum sentence, stating that the policeman was "beyond a shadow of a doubt" guilty of all the charges.

Guyot was in tears as the judge handed out the sentence. He said he regretted how the case had affected his family and friends. His wife, brother and two childhood friends were also prosecuted for money-laundering and handling stolen goods.

"I am unable to excuse myself, so I cannot ask them to excuse me," he said. He denied that he was responsible for stealing the drugs.

Guyot's accomplice, 35-year-old Farid Kharraki, was sentenced to five years in prison for helping sell the drugs. The cocaine stash has never been found.