While a shooting in Poitiers leaves a 15-year-old teenager between life and death, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau sounds the alarm: France finds itself, according to him, “at a tipping point” in the face of drug trafficking. This tragedy comes only a week after a boy was seriously injured near Rennes, in what promises to be an unprecedented escalation of violence.
Traveling to Rennes this Friday, Bruno Retailleau went to the Maurepas district, marked by recent settling of scores. There, he promised reinforcements and mentioned the creation of the National Investigation Unit to fight against the scourge of drug trafficking. “France is in the process of Mexicanization”he said, describing the emergence of «narco-enclaves» which, according to him, even threaten the sovereignty of the State.
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These strong words illustrate the minister's determination to intensify the fight against drugs. In particular, he advocates an increase in fixed fines against consumers and hopes that the government will adopt the proposals of the senatorial commission of inquiry. A bill is also pending in the Senate, with the hope that it will be voted on in the coming months.
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“It’s getting worse and worse. Before, it was night; now it's all day. They do what they want. »
In the Maurepas district, where violence linked to drug trafficking has become omnipresent, residents express their fed up. Nadège, a resident, testifies: “It’s getting worse and worse. Before, it was night; now it's all day. They do what they want. »
In Poitiers, where a teenager is between life and death after a shooting Thursday evening, the violence took on alarming proportions: several hundred people clashed, leaving several seriously injured. In Valencia, a man in his twenties is also fighting for his life after being shot in the head during a shooting. In all these cases, drugs seem to be at the heart of these tragedies.
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Between three and six billion euros per year
Faced with this rise in trafficking, Bruno Retailleau wants to place this fight “at the level of a national cause”like the fight against terrorism. With trafficking generating between three and six billion euros per year, the minister intends to mobilize all the power of the State to “break the ecosystem” of drug trafficking.
Next week, Bruno Retailleau will travel to Marseille with Didier Migaud, Minister of Justice, to announce new measures in a city where drug-related violence is reaching dramatic levels, with teenagers being recruited as hitmen. For Bruno Retailleau, this fight must be fought “until the end”in each district, to preserve the security and integrity of France.
