the judicial police are strengthening to fight against the “uberization” of drug trafficking

The Paris Judicial Police have just created groups of “cyberstups” investigators to track the sale of drugs online, particularly in anticipation of the Olympic Games which could lead to an increase in this means of consumption.

“Delivery from noon to midnight, very responsive after-sales service. Have a nice day, friends” : here are the greeting messages found on a channel dedicated to drugs on the Telegram application. While home delivery of drugs is rampant throughout the country and particularly in Paris, with the approach of the Olympic Games, the judicial police are equipping themselves with new means to dismantle these networks. For drug users, ordering with their cell phone has become a habit. For one reason: it’s very simple, and one could even say very user-friendly, if it weren’t illegal.

Commissioner Guillaume Batigne, head of the Paris PJ narcotics brigade, shows the rest on his phone: “The different products are presented in videos, so we have herbal cannabis, cocaine, and to order you have to click on the link which goes to Signal. So we have an interlocking of encrypted networks to then be able to order these narcotic products in complete confidentiality”describes the commissioner.

Confidentiality and distrust also so as not to run into a police officer. Traffickers can therefore ask their customer to send an identity document, or even make a video call before validating their order.

“The delivery person receives a message to know where he must collect the day’s deliveries. He then collects the product in the hands of an individual who may be unknown to him and who may be hooded,” explains Guillaume. Then he makes his rounds with addresses communicated to him by encrypted network. He delivers to customers and collects money from them, and once he is done for the day, he either returns to the original location where he took the drugs, or by courier receives the location where he must leave the spoils of his tour”, explains Guillaume Batigne.

And this is proof that these call centers drugs have really become professionalized in recent years. Dealers also use all the marketing codes found in online commerce with promotions, loyalty cards, goodies also, for example, scratch games distributed to customers.

“A scratch card game is handed out systematically with, of course, 100% winners and the prize is a dose of cannabis”

Guillaume Batigne, head of the Paris PJ narcotics brigade

at franceinfo

“The goal of the centers is also to trivialize consumption, just as you can order a pizza and have it delivered to your home, you can also order cocaine, synthetic drugs and have them delivered to your home or workplace.“, explains the commissioner.

This delivery method is exploding in Paris while more than a third of the physical deal points on the street have disappeared over the last three years due to the action of the police, at the same time, the judicial police have carried out 40% more cases last year linked to cybertrafficking networks, or 41 cases in total.

However, these networks are not easy to dismantle since orders are placed by encrypted messaging. As for delivery people, their profiles evolve and are difficult to detect admits the boss of the Parisian judicial police, Fabrice Gardon. “We see that there are more and more young women who look like executives. Networks are increasingly using this type of profile, people who are sometimes not known at all and who find this an opportunity to make money quite easily. A delivery person will generally be paid 10 euros per delivery and he may have the impression of not committing a serious offense even though he is the perpetrator of drug trafficking like any other trafficker. He risks very heavy sentences.“

For three years, in the Paris metropolitan area, “we have reduced the number of deal points by around a third. So the trafficking networks need to find other means to sell their goods. Hence the very strong increase in these networks that we calls cybernarcotics. This is more than 40% more cases on this theme carried out by the Parisian judicial police between 2022 and 2023. develops Fabrice Gardon.

For their part, customers have the feeling of being protected by ordering from behind their phone. “We have consumers who would not have consumed if the only way to obtain the product had been to go to a deal point. We have consumers who may be afraid because there is an effect of social stigma if we are ever seen buying substances, then we will reach a new audience and that is interesting for drug traffickers who have a huge quantity of merchandise to sell.”, explains economist Clotilde Champeyrache, specialist in organized crime. Drug traffickers for whom customer files are very precious. They can resell them among themselves at very high prices: from 30,000 to 100,000 euros for the most extensive files.

“Drug traffickers have been very strong in marketing for years. Even before social networks, we had this desire to constantly develop new products, sometimes with nice names, to build customer loyalty and also attract new ones.”

Clotilde Champeyrache, specialist in organized crime

at franceinfo

“In Italy, for example, you have drug names like ‘Nesquik’, we can see that there we are going to target very young consumers. And therefore all these promotional operations make it possible to capture new markets and address new populations”, completes the specialist.

Faced with the scale of this phenomenon, the Parisian police are therefore equipping themselves with new resources. The PJ has just created four groups of investigators called “cyberstups”, or around thirty police officers who will be able to investigate under a pseudonym. The objective for the director of the Parisian judicial police Fabrice Gardon is to be ready as the Olympic Games approach. “We are going to have a large number of tourists who will consume narcotics and who obviously do not know the physical deal points in the cities in the Paris suburbs. For them it is very easy to order via the call centers to get deliver to their hotel.”

“We consider that there will undoubtedly be a significant increase in this type of mobile drug flow during the Olympics. So our more offensive strategy which consists of specializing cybernarcotics groups also meets this need.”

Fabrice Gardon, director of the PJ

at franceinfo

The police also wish to point out that they do not only attack networks. 13,000 consumers were fined last year in Paris, an increase of 75% in the most festive districts of the capital.