Residents of a building used as a drug dealing point by drug traffickers in Echirolles, a suburb of Grenoble, have been ordered by the town hall to evacuate the building by Friday for its “safety restoration”learned theAFP Wednesday, September 25, 2024 from concordant sources.
The evacuation of the Le Carrare building, which began on Tuesday, has been decided “because of the permanent danger of death to which (the inhabitants) are exposed”, said the town hall in a press release, which notably mentions “fire and electrical risks”.
Drug trafficking in and around the building has “seriously degraded the security conditions of the building”, is added.
Read also: Near Grenoble, four men shot and injured in shooting near drug dealing point
About ten occupants
The five-story residence has about 80 apartments, some unoccupied, others sublet or squatted. A source at the city hall told theAFP that before the evacuation orders were issued, an assessment indicated the presence of a “dozen occupants” in total.
The electrical network was exposed in the corridors, and the doors of the boxes were torn off. The staircases and emergency exits were blocked with various objects. “to obstruct the police”explains to theAFP Gilles Bonaventura, head of the municipal police of Échirolles.
The town hall assures that it is offering “individual social support” and provide temporary rehousing for the building’s residents, and promises that “no one will be on the street.” The “safety restoration” of the building is expected within three weeks.
About twenty firearm incidents
Temporary evacuation of residents “is also part of the solution to remove the Carrara drug dealing point from the hands of traffickers,” explained Grenoble prosecutor Éric Vaillant in a press release on Wednesday morning.
Since the beginning of the year, around twenty episodes of gun violence linked to drug trafficking have been recorded in the territory of Grenoble and Échirolles, a town of 36,000 inhabitants bordering the Alpine metropolis, with the authorities no longer hesitating to speak of “gang war”.
During the summer, at least two people were injured by firearms in and around the Le Carrare building, located near the town hall.
