Is France on the path to « mexicanisation » ? In any case, this is what the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau fears after the multiple shootings which broke out in the country at the beginning of November, notably in Poitiers (Vienne), where a 15-year-old teenager was killed by gunfire, and in Valence (Drôme), where a young man who had just reached the age of majority suffered the same fate. Always with the same backdrop : drug trafficking.
In 2023, homicides linked to this scourge reached peaks with 418 cases of assassinations and assassination attempts between criminals, an increase of 38% compared to the previous year. With the JDD,he general secretary of the UN1TÉ union (formerly SGP-Police Unit) Grégory Joron recalls the need to strengthen the means of law enforcement and justice to win this « guerre »… abefore it's too late.
The JDD. After the shootings that broke out in recent days, Bruno Retailleau did not hesitate to talk about « mexicanisation » of France. Do you share this observation?
Gregory Joron. It is clear that drug traffickers are increasingly militarized in the country. It is a phenomenon which has been visible for many years, but which is constantly increasing and is now extending even to medium-sized towns and rural areas. For what ? Quite simply because dealers have to defend more and more positions. They need weapons in order to impress their enemies, to scare off the competition, and why not even eliminate it. So yes, unfortunately, I think we are witnessing a “Mexicanization” of France.
Has it become easy, in 2024, to obtain a firearm in France?
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Easy, I don't know, but in any case, it's sure that it's simpler than before. When organized crime prospers (as is the case at the moment), the circulation of weapons increases. It's mechanical.
Very large gangs, such as the DZ Mafia, are now exporting outside their city of origin
This is seen through shootings, but not only that: when we, the police, carry out checks on deal points, it is rare that we do not find them on the scene.
To stem this phenomenon, certain political leaders, particularly on the left, are calling for legalizing cannabis, and even other drugs. Would this be an effective solution?
On the contrary, it is the eternal false good idea. We see it in other countries [comme les Pays-Bas, NDLR] who made this choice, but also in our country, with another drug, already legal: cigarettes. I invite all defenders of the legalization of cannabis to go to any Paris metro entrance to see that smuggling is still thriving.
And it would be even worse if we legalized narcotics. Seen the windfall of dirty money that this generates, we should not think for a second that the traffickers would cease their activities. On the contrary, products sold on the black market would be even more concentrated in THC [la molécule psychoactive, NDLR] than today.
In your opinion, on the contrary, we should recruit more police officers and give them more resources.
Obviously. This speech may sound like “cream pie” coming from a trade unionist, but it remains no less real: the police are far, very far from being numerous enough to wage a war of such magnitude against drug trafficking. In France.
An example: eBetween 2015 and 2021, the files of the criminal brigade of Marseille, a city particularly affected by the phenomenon, have doubled. But not its staff or the resources allocated to it… Moreover, the Minister of the Interior also spoke of a “cartelization” of France. This is indeed a major challenge: very large-scale gangs, like the DZ Mafia in Marseille, are now exporting outside their city of origin to diversify their trafficking.
In short, law enforcement is overwhelmed. And they are not the only ones. Justice is affected by the same evils. It is also swamped with files and is seriously short of magistrates to take over the work of the police. Add to that a criminal procedure that is too cumbersome, and we can no longer cope! We need to raise the tone on the subject and put in place a truly effective arsenal. Otherwise, France really risks transforming into a “narco-state”!
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