A MAN ALLEGED to be one of Corsica’s most notorious gangsters is behind bars after being arrested by chance, thanks to a thief plying his trade on one of the poshest streets in Paris.
The 40-year-old, widely known as Rachid the Corsican, had parked his car on the Rue du Faubourg St Honore, famous for its designer boutiques and just up the road from President Francois Hollande’s Elysee Palace.
Minutes after he had left the 4×4, police caught a thief trying to break into it red-handed, and what initially looked like a mundane crime took an unexpected twist when the officers discovered several guns in the vehicle.
The owner, who turned up shortly afterwards, was found to be carrying another gun and a search of his Paris flat produced more weapons, grenades, explosives and balaclavas.
The man and his partner, who runs a Corsican wine bar just off the Champs Elysees, were both detained in custody.
A Paris prosecutor is seeking to have them charged with possession of weapons and explosives as part of membership of a criminal gang and possession of explosives.
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