Increased prices, extended delivery times, traffickers are preparing for an influx of consumers during the Olympics. For the authorities, the fight against drug trafficking will remain a priority during this period.
No summer break and even less Olympic break for dealers. As the Paris Olympic Games approach, which will begin on July 26, drug traffickers and dealers seem to anticipate both the influx of tourists, and therefore the influx of consumers, but also the difficulties linked to sales , and in particular for delivery with traffic restrictions in areas where sports competitions will take place.
For several months, and especially since the Covid-19 crisis, the “Uber shit” system has developed. Namely this system of home delivery of drugs after ordering on Telegram or Snapchat loops. And on the networks, the dealers hidden behind their screens are already preparing for this period. Eiffel Tower and Olympic logo, marketing arguments oblige, the price of a gram of cocaine is increasing. 70 euros for 50-60 euros usually. A price increase for new customers.
The reason for this increase? The 16 million tourists expected this summer in the capital. “It’s a classic commercial strategy, traffickers transpose the classic pattern of sales to their criminal activity,” notes Eric Henry, national delegate of the Alliance Police union, before being ironic. “When you rent a house in high season, the price is always higher than in low season.”
A delinquency that wants to take advantage of the Olympics
A large swath of the heart of Paris but also many areas in Ile-de-France, which host the Olympic competitions, will be disrupted. With reduced traffic or access control. On this Telegram group, dealers point out that the prices of narcotics will change “due to very difficult traffic conditions”. “We are more effective on the ground so individuals are increasingly using social networks,” notes Reda Belhaj, spokesperson for the SGP Police FO Unit union.
In the opinion of all the police officers contacted, the traffickers’ strategy is not surprising. “Generally speaking, delinquency is constantly adapting,” laments Thierry Clair, general secretary of the Unsa-police union. The Olympic Games period will be no exception, and the police are aware of this. “The dealers will obviously target the Olympic sites, there is a way for them to make a lot of money and the increase in prices corresponds to risk capital,” adds Eric Henry.
“Given the police presence that there will be on the sites, the checks that are planned, this will pose certain problems for them,” puts Thierry Clair into perspective. “We saw it during the Covid period, there were supply difficulties.”
The fight against trafficking remains a priority
45,000 law enforcement officers deployed on the day of the Games ceremony, 35,000 each day of competition, the authorities assure that they have taken this risk into account. “The fight against drug trafficking remains a priority,” says Beauvau. Tuesday May 28, a “clear square” operation was carried out in Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis), a few steps from the Olympic athletes’ village. This deal point is well known. Fifteen people were arrested and 10 kilos of cannabis resin and herb, 48 telephones and 20,000 euros in cash were seized.
For several months, police operations have intensified in Seine-Saint-Denis where the athletes’ village is located but also the Olympic aquatic center and the Stade de France.
In addition to drug trafficking, the authorities expect an increase in all forms of delinquency. Pickpocketing, street vending, stagecoach attack on the A1 motorway… The Olympic Games are going to be “an El Dorado for all forms of delinquency”, deplores Reda Belhaj, spokesperson for Unité SGP FO font. The reorganization and redeployment of staff, while a zero leave policy is being implemented this summer for law enforcement, is still being finalized.
For example, police officers from the sub-directorate for combating illegal immigration will be redeployed. Those from Val-de-Marne will reinforce Seine-Saint-Denis, those from Hauts-de-Seine, Paris. The two departments where there will be the most Olympic competitions. Questioned by France Info, the Paris public prosecutor Laure Beccuau estimated that her prosecution expected “an increase in the volume (…)”, more “than a real evolution in the facts of delinquency that we are seeing on the Parisian plaque”. The number of magistrates will be much higher than that of a lamba summer and an immediate appearance hearing will take place every day during the Games period.
