President of French Audiovisual Institute arrested for buying cocaine
Laurent Vallet, who has headed the public body since 2015, was intercepted at the end of July at his home in Paris after receiving the drug from a minor.
BarcelonaOn July 29, an operation by the French police's Anti-Crime Brigade (BAC) ended with the arrest of Laurent Vallet, president of the National Audiovisual Institute (INA). Vallet was arrested at his home in Paris after purchasing cocaine from a 17-year-old boy, according to judicial and police sources confirmed to AFP. This being his first arrest, the court has referred Vallet to a therapeutic program, an alternative measure focused on addiction treatment.
The operation began with surveillance of this minor, suspected of drug trafficking. Officers followed him into a building and, when he came out, intercepted him. He was carrying 600 euros in cash and claimed to have visited a friend. That "friend" was Vallet, who, according to the same sources, admitted to having bought cocaine from the young man for the same amount and handed the substance over to the police.
Vallet, 55, was reappointed last May for a third five-year term at the helm of the INA, at the proposal of Culture Minister Rachida Dati. He has led the organization since 2015, when he replaced Agnès Saal, who resigned after it became public that she had spent more than €40,000 on taxis in just ten months. Before assuming the presidency of the INA, Vallet had been, since 2002, general director of the Institute for the Financing of Film and Cultural Industries (IFCIC), a credit institution dedicated to providing financing to companies in the cultural sector.
