The Ministers of the Interior Bruno Retailleau and of Justice Didier Migaud, traveling to Marseille this Fridayannounced a series of measures intended to strengthen the fight against drug trafficking. “We need an electric shock”hammered the Minister of Justice. “My hand will not shake”, he assures, to fight against this “multifaceted, growing, sprawling threat” Who “touches innocent people”. Bruno Retailleau compared drug trafficking to “octopus” by train “to conquer medium-sized towns throughout France”. To fight against this “existential threat”, which endangers “our institutions, our democracies”, “it will take years, it’s a 10, 15 or 20 year fight”, believes the Minister of the Interior, who called for “national unity”. A bill will be examined on January 27 in the Senate.
Creation of a “national coordination unit”
The Minister of Justice said again “favorable to strong management around a national prosecutor’s office” specialized, like the national anti-terrorism prosecution. “To put this new structure in place, Parliament will have to legislate.”
Without waiting for parliamentarians to legislate on this new structure, Didier Migaud announced the establishment “in the coming weeks” of a “national coordination cell to the Paris prosecutor's office to fight against drug trafficking. “In the coming weeks, in the presence of the Prime Minister, I will establish a national coordination unit responsible for taking stock of the threat, setting an operational strategy and implementing it.”he said. The minister wants this unit to include “representatives of other ministries”, notably that of the Economy.
“We need coordination, with a chain of information, from local prosecutors to the Jirs”these jurisdictions responsible for the fight against organized crime. There “transmission of information will now be fully obligatory”.
Strengthening resources
Didier Migaud assures that “the Paris prosecutor's office teams working on the fight against organized crime at the national level will be reinforced by 40%. Moreover, “in the Jirs, the workforce will be protected and we will strengthen the prosecutors who need it”.
His counterpart at the Interior completes: “We will strengthen the allocated resources in the territories” to police officers specializing in the fight against drugs. Concerning the investigators, the resources of the Anti-Narcotics Office (Ofast) will also be strong, promised Bruno Retailleau.
And technical means
“We must develop digital investigation techniques”, insisted Didier Migaud. Traffickers use means “drones for deliveries, encrypted networks, 3D printers to make weapons, we need to upgrade”affirmed Bruno Retailleau.
Professionalization of magistrates?
The Minister of Justice said he was considering the judgment of “organized crime” linked in particular to narcotics by special assize courts, composed solely of professional magistrates, like terrorism cases.
Use only professional magistrates rather than the popular juries that normally make up assize courts “would remove the risk of pressure exerted on the jurors with a view to guiding the final judicial decision”estimates the Minister of Justice.
The Minister of the Interior also wishes to protect “investigators who are in contact with informers” : “I have a commissioner in Paris who was almost convicted because he was in contact with an informer. If you don't have informants, you don't have any results,” he insisted. “I wish we could have a legal framework that protects this work.”
“There will undoubtedly be a status of the repentant”also announced Bruno Retailleau, “by creating the status of collaborator of justice” more favorable, with “more incentive levels of punishment”, added Didier Migaud.
More international cooperation
It's necessary “more international cooperation”, asked the Minister of Justice, who will appoint a “liaison magistrate” towards the “Refuge States” of drug traffickers. At the same time, “we must mobilize our European partners“, which are “to more or less advanced degrees affected by this scourge”.
Hitting drug traffickers “in the wallet”
It's necessary “hit criminals in the wallet”, in particular by strengthening the “judicial seizures and confiscations, so that crime does not pay”insisted Didier Migaud.
Bruno Retailleau wishes in particular “give the prefect the power to close money laundering businesses” and create a “resources justification injunction” in the event of decorrelation between the income received by an individual and their lifestyle. “Are you driving a big engine? Very well, give us the proof.”
The Minister of the Interior also wishes systematize heritage surveys and create an emergency administrative procedure for freezing assets.
Fines and communication campaigns
Consumers must “open your eyes”insisted the Minister of Justice. A “communication campaign will be launched to reveal the links between the use of narcotics, the violence of traffickers and the offenses that result from it”.
While waiting for a new legislative arsenal to be voted on, “fines must be systematically recovered”, he also promised.
Cautious reactions from unions
“The measures in general are quite good and they are going in the right direction”approves Fabien Vanhemelryck, president of the Alliance Police nationale union. “Molying on anti-terrorism, I believe that these are things that we must do and in particular work in the same way for organized crime.”
“What bothers me”, he nuances, “we are making all these announcements, but with what? The state coffers are empty and the Ministry of the Interior is already in difficulty because it is already trying to make savings. You cannot announce such a cause (…) and not have a substantial budget to go with it.”
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