For months now, the news pages of French newspapers have looked like war bulletins, including clashes between rival gangs, murders and violence of all kinds. A spiral of crime which in recent weeks has undergone a sharp acceleration with a series of tragic episodes which occurred in deep France.
At the end of October a Rennes (North-West) a 5-year-old boy was seriously injured after being shot in the head while he was with his father who was fleeing in a car from some men who were looking for him; a few days later a Poitiers (West) a 15-year-old died after finding himself in the middle of a shootout where four teenagers were injured; to Valencia (South-east) within 24 hours, a 22-year-old rugby player outside a nightclub and an 18-year-old lost their lives, killed in what investigators consider to be a settling of scores. They are all deaths linked together by a single common denominator: drug trafficking. But from an analysis of these tragic episodes another aspect also comes to mind, hitherto unpublished, which concerns the theaters of the riots. These are small or medium-sized cities, where life generally flows peacefully and crime is a problem that was only heard about on television during news reports dedicated to the banlieues of Paris or Marseille.
In some cases it is a completely gratuitous fury. Like the one that hit last year Crèpola village of a few hundred souls attacked by a group of boys from the public housing of a nearby town, who showed up at a municipal festival with bars and knives. In the ensuing brawl (during which some witnesses swear they heard phrases against “whites”, although the prosecutor denied it) the 16-year-old lost his life Thomaswhose disappearance shocked all of France. «These are areas with difficult economic situations» he explains Thomas Sauvadetspecialist in criminal gangs. Among the causes is an “urbanization that has transformed villages into small towns, with the consequent creation of new public housing inhabited by a new population of immigrants”, says the sociologist. Immigration itself has played a fundamental role: «Before, when migrants arrived in France they were concentrated in large metropolises, now they are increasingly going to small and medium-sized towns».
An unprecedented phenomenon for the Républiquewhich now has to launch into a battle to reconquer its territories, which have become drug dealing centers contested by criminal groups. The authorities are also worried about the increase in other crimes, as recently emerged from the Ministry of the Interior’s estimates for the year between July 2023 and June. Although homicides fell by 8 percent, sexual violence increased by 7 percent, burglaries with weapons by 6 percent, home burglaries by 4 percent and scams by 3 percent. «In reality, the toll could be more important than that reported by official estimates, because in many neighborhoods people do not report” notes the sociologist. The picture takes on even darker shades if we look at the Overseas Territories as Guadeloupethe New Caledonia or Martiniquecyclically prey to popular guerrillas that break out as part of protests against high prices.
The Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleaua Republican known for his particularly rigid positions on security, even spoke of a country on the path to “Mexicanization”, drawing a parallel between the situation in France and that in the State of Central America. Extreme words used to shake public opinion, even if you look at the latest survey conducted by the Institute Csa For CNews, Europe 1 And The Jdd it would seem that the French were already well aware of the situation. In fact, 71 percent of them agree with the words of Retailleauwhile 28 percent say they are against it. Although the France is still far from becoming a narco state, it is undeniable that drug trafficking is a deep-rooted problem. Just take a look at the data: its turnover is between 3.5 and six billion euros per year. In the first half of 2024, the Central Office for the Fight against Organized Crime (Oclco) recorded 182 cases of murder or attempted murder resulting in 42 drug-related deaths. The overall figure is down by 19 percent compared to 2023 but up by 22 percent and 32 percent when compared to 2022 and 2021 respectively. What is especially striking is the age of the people involved, as he explained to France info the director ofOclco, Yann Sourisseau: «In recent years we have witnessed the multiplication of teams of young hitmen who have an average age of 25».
«There is a link between drug trafficking and generalized violence among younger people who grow up in difficult neighborhoods where the law is made by drug dealers, who initially join gangs and immerse themselves in a culture of banditry and lawlessness » he states Sauvadetexplaining that “the littlest ones imitate the big ones”. But often the aesthetic codes of those worlds go beyond the boundaries of the areas in which they are born. “Young delinquents living in the poorest neighborhoods have become a sort of influencer, they can launch trends through social media which are then followed by kids in the countryside as well as those in the richest neighborhoods of Paris,” explains the expert, taking as an example the gansta-rap style.
Faced with such a scenario, the executive puffs out its chest for the umpteenth time with a new package of measures presented at the beginning of November by Retailleau and by the Keeper of the Seals Didier Migaud in Marseille, a city symbolizing gang warfare. Among the most significant measures is the creation of a Prosecutor’s Office dedicated to the fight against crime, organized on the same model as that of anti-terrorism, a significant increase in resources and agents, the improvement of the protection regime for justice collaborators, greater fiscal control over suspected drug traffickers, harsher penalties for consumers and minors who commit crime. A plan announced as an “electric shock” by the ministers, who in their haste to give an immediate response to the recent cases of violence went back to many of the recommendations contained in the report prepared last spring by the Senate Commission of Inquiry. The appointment is now at the end of January in the Senate to examine the bill.
Once again, a strong fist is promised against drug trafficking, with the promise of “zero tolerance”. Like when the president at the beginning of the year Emmanuel Macron launched the «XXL Clean Sweep» operation with the promise of clearing the cities and their suburbs of pushers and their goods. A project with meager results according to the current context, however heralded as a success in terms of seizures and arrests. This time the authorities are more cautious, as seen from the words of Retailleauwho spoke of “15-20 years” to win the battle. Meanwhile, France continues to fight against a plague that is now rooted throughout the entire territory.
