The Ministers of the Interior and Justice of the Barnier government have chosen to unveil their plan against organized crime in the Marseille city, the scene of a bloody turf war between drug trafficking gangs.
They will be received by the mayor of the city, Benoît Payan, then will go to the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture where they will meet associations and families of victims of assassinations linked to drug trafficking, before presenting their measures during of a press conference.
A few months ago, it was also in Marseille that the first clean-up operation took place in the presence of the ministers at the time Gérald Darmanin and Eric Dupont-Moretti.
“War without mercy”
The new Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau will then meet the police troops of the northern districts, while the Minister of Justice Didier Migaud will go to the Baumettes prison, and later to the Marseille judicial court, where he will exchange with the leaders of court and jurisdiction as well as with the staff of the Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction (JIRS).
After several deadly shootings linked to drug trafficking, Bruno Retailleau judged last Friday that France was at a “tipping point” in the face of drug trafficking which, according to him, threatens the country with “Mexicanization”. He had promised a long and merciless “war” against this trafficking, whose turnover is estimated between 3.5 and 6 billion euros per year in France.
Minister of Justice Didier Migaud, “totally in tune” with Mr. Retailleau, also affirmed that a “very firm response from the State” was necessary. An ultra-security response in line with successive plans over the past 30 years which aim to stem, in vain, drug trafficking.
The measures that will be announced were reviewed Thursday during a meeting between the two ministers and the head of government Michel Barnier.
“Fundamental interests of the Nation”
The latter then called on the X network for “a general mobilization against organized crime”, which had become “a threat against the fundamental interests of the Nation”.
The plan which will be presented will include “a better organization of specialized courts, new means of investigation for the police and magistrates”, as well as “complementary measures” on detainees, minors and illegal content in line, detailed the Prime Minister in his message.
A national anti-narcotics prosecution
His ministers will notably have to seek “a transpartisan consensus” based on the bill from senators Etienne Blanc (LR, Rhône) and Jérôme Durain (PS, Saône-et-Loire), which he received last week. The text, which must be examined on January 27 by the Senate, proposes in particular to recalibrate the Anti-Narcotics Office (Ofast) into a real “French-style DEA”, named after the American drug control agency, and to create a national anti-narcotics prosecution (Pnast).
On the ground, expectations are enormous. “We must review the texts, organizations and means in response to violence that has become limitless, to the corruption of minds and practices, to the financial impact of the networks,” said Franck Rastoul, prosecutor general of the Court of Justice. call from Aix-en-Provence.
“There is total mobilization but there is suffocation of the judicial system,” explains another judicial source, indicating that in Marseille alone, “750 detained and indicted” relate to organized crime. “The fight against drug banditry is a great national cause and we must change gear. But does the budgetary context allow it? “, she asks.
