December 24, 1997, Brussels.
After Conti's speech ended, the conference room was quiet for a full ten seconds.
The French minister spoke first: "A hundred tons. Even at retail price, it exceeds three billion euros. Whose hands is this money in now?"
"Africans," Conti said, "and their local partners. In Italy, Camorra and Entrangata have fully turned to 'Black Pearl'. The situation in Spain is similar. France—"
"Marseille is already out of control." The French minister interrupted him, "Our people have counted that in the past two weeks, there have been seventeen homicide cases related to 'Black Pearl'. The deceased include two local gang leaders, a police officer, and three high school students."
