THOMAS SAMSON / AFP
Bruno Retailleau on the bench of ministers in the Senate on October 2, 2024.
POLITICS – The pride of place for (ex) colleagues. Now Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau is banking on the fight against drug trafficking as a means of “restore order”. And to do this, he intends to rely on a senatorial report delivered at the end of March and which at the time undermined the policy pursued by Gérald Darmanin.
Against drug trafficking, “we need a new legislative arsenal” Bruno Retailleau said again on November 1st. The minister was speaking on the sidelines of a trip to Rennes, where a child was killed at the end of October amid drug trafficking. This Saturday, November 2, a 15-year-old teenager succumbed to his injuries, after the shooting in Poitiers which left several injured, all minors, again on suspicion of drug trafficking.
Considering that France is “at a tipping point”the former senator from Vendée cited several aspects of the fight to be carried out simultaneously, from the improvement of intelligence services to the fight against “the corruption which extends in various administrations” and the creation of a specialized national prosecutor's office. Exactly the recommendations of a Senate commission of inquiry last spring.
A specialized prosecution as for terrorism
In May 2024, senators Jérôme Durain (socialist) and Étienne Blanc (LR) co-signed a report calling for “a necessary start” pour “get out of the drug trafficking trap”. Drawing up the observation of a France “submerged”from large metropolises to rural areas via medium-sized towns, they alerted on “yawning flaws” in the repressive system.
Among the points criticized, the Place Nette Operations of Gérald Darmanin at the “disappointing results” and which are similar to “emptying the ocean with a teaspoon”, “abandonment” overseas territories where drugs from the American continent transit, the lack of technical means for investigations, legal loopholes or even the absence of a coordinated strategy to fight against “financial flows” from trafficking which nevertheless constitute “the sinews of war. » Finally, the senators deplored “scattering” actors. “We have sometimes wondered if Europe had a telephone number: the commission of inquiry is now wondering if the fight against drug trafficking has one and if it is possible to speak with the same voice and 'act with the same movement, which today is far from being the case'they wrote.
Their recommendations? Create a National Anti-Narcotics Prosecutor's Office, “reference on drug trafficking for the judicial sphere” on the model of the anti-terrorist prosecution and strengthen the Ofast financially and statutorily in order to make it the real one “leader” of the fight against narcotics. They also plead for “toughen the criminal procedure” including the creation of a confidential file to limit the disclosure during trials of certain special investigation methods, from which traffickers subsequently benefit.
At the same time, the senators insisted on the importance of hitting traffickers in the wallet by making the patrimonial and financial aspect a ” unavoidable “ of the struggle. And to evoke an appeal “more common” to the presumption of money laundering as well as the creation of an injunction procedure for unexplained wealth – an “asset investigation”. “ If a person who has an apartment, a large car or stock market securities cannot demonstrate that he acquired them legally, then his assets are confiscated.details on franceinfo the rapporteur of the text Étienne Blanc this Saturday, November 2.
A debate in Parliament possible by the end of 2024?
The tenant of Place Beauvau knows that some of his measures do not fall within his area of expertise. Justice and Interior must be “neck to elbow” in the fight against drug trafficking, he said again from Rennes. A joint visit with the Minister of Justice Didier Migaud and announcements are also planned for Friday November 9 in Marseille, regularly affected by tragedies linked to drug trafficking.
In the longer term, the authors of the report Étienne Blanc and Jérôme Jourdain submitted a bill to the Senate in July containing their recommendations. Not yet included on the agenda of the upper house, it could be added soon, at the request of the government. “The government is studying our project to toughen up the fight”entrusted the elected LR to Telegram on October 31.
At the beginning of October, Minister of Justice Didier Migaud expressed his wish to see the proposal on the table “before the end of the year”. An opinion shared by his colleague at Place Beauvau who evokes a possible parliamentary niche to repeat the text “at the very beginning of the year at the latest”.
Once on the agenda of the Upper House, with a right-wing majority, the work – transpartisan at that – is likely to pass a first stage. What about the Assembly, where there are only 40 Republicans left? “I think we can find a consensus”wants to believe Bruno Retailleau. But certain points risk straining the debates. At the time of presentation of the report, the association of criminal lawyers (Adap) was particularly concerned about the creation of the confidential file, possible “reduction of rights and means of defense (…) detrimental to all citizens”.
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