The narcotics market in France is becoming more professional. Certain deal points are transferred as real “goodwill”. Prices are set based on profitability and location.
In France, drug sales outlets are increasingly operating as structured illegal businesses, with some even going so far as to be offered for sale. In Rennes, for example, two deal points located in the “Italie” shopping center and in Bréquigny were offered for sale for sums varying from 800,000 to 3 million euros. The price of these “businesses” depends on criteria such as profitability, location, customer base, and proximity to transportation, elements similar to those used to evaluate legal businesses.
Financial assets for traffickers
The deal points, nicknamed “fours” in traffic jargon, are managed like real SMEs. For their owners, these “goodwill” represent financial assets that they keep or resell depending on profitability. This market is based on the management of a territory where traffickers ensure a constant presence to meet demand. Commissioner Olivier Aubry, head of the organized crime division in Ille-et-Vilaine, specifies that certain deal points can remain open 24 hours a day.
A thriving underground economy
The reasons that push traffickers to sell these businesses vary. Some seek to leave the industry, while others aspire to climb the ladder of trafficking, becoming semi-wholesalers. This move up the ranks reduces the risks associated with direct management of a point of sale while maximizing profits.
In 2023, the narcotics market in France generated around 3 billion euros in annual turnover, with 5 million regular users of cannabis and 600,000 of cocaine, the two most consumed drugs. According to the Anti-Narcotics Office (OFAST), around 240,000 people depend directly or indirectly on drug trafficking, of which 21,000 work full-time.
The authorities’ response
Faced with this phenomenon, the authorities are deploying innovative strategies. In Bondy in 2011, a drug sales point operated as a drive-in, like a McDonald’s. To counter this type of point of sale, the police sometimes use unusual methods such as installing “no entry” signs in order to dissuade buyers.
Source : Capital
(Thank you Fabrice Guérault)
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