On the night of April 3 to 4, the police station in the third arrondissement of Marseille was the victim of intentional damage to vehicles parked in front of the building. According to a police source, this is retaliation following the arrests of operation Place Net XXL.
On the night of April 3 to 4, around 2 a.m., eight individuals went to the 3rd arrondissement police station, France 3 Provence-Alpes learned from several police sources. Using Molotov cocktails, they set fire to two police vehicles parked in front of the police station. They were completely burned, while a third vehicle was targeted without the incendiary bomb exploding.
According to Rudy Manna, national spokesperson for the Police Alliance, the specialized field brigade (BST – territorial neighborhood units) was the target of threats during the XXL net operations. According to him, this is retaliation following arrests linked to drug trafficking, the BST having been threatened with revenge on the ground during the operations.
The announced reprisals have arrived.
The BST 3 has been clearing the way for several days on Félix Pyat (seizures, arrests)
The dealers are exhausted.
Mafia methods are underway (4 VL burned)
Support for these 👮🏼of the BST3 who are courageous and willing but exhausted.. pic.twitter.com/AmDyGT08TO— Rudy Manna (@RudyManna2) April 4, 2024
“The arrival of Emmanuel Macron and the net operations, even if we have the impression that these operations do nothing, it drives them crazy. Because they can no longer sell, customers come less so we are not surprised that there are retaliations“, explains Rudy Manna. A report of findings was carried out and this serves as a complaint.
This brigade has specialized in drug trafficking for around four years.
The facts take place in a particularly tense context for the police. In an interview given to France 3 Provence-Alpes, Bruno Bartocetti, national secretary of the SGP-Police Unit union, in charge of the South Zone, confides that between the lack of resources, the operation clear space for the fight against drug trafficking, and the arrival of the Olympics and the succession of the Vigipirate plan at the “emergency attack” level, the working conditions are harsh. “Operation Clean Place adds to our daily lives, domestic violence, urban rodeos, bomb threats, the risk of attack… Everything becomes a priority, so how can we work other than under pressure ?“, he confided.
In this same interview, he admitted to being “frustrated” in the face of the contempt of drug kingpins, but having the will “not to want to give up”. “80% of French people support their police, despite what the drug traffickers who don’t care about us, or the thugs who drive 100,000 euro cars and feel unpunished may say.”