small towns, new targets of drug trafficking

It was 9 p.m. on Saturday May 13 when shots rang out in Villerupt (Meurthe-et-Moselle), under the porch of a building. Twenty shots left three seriously injured, one of whom was shot in the head. The shooter fled by car. It would be a drug trafficker, well known in the neighborhood. The shock is immense in the city of 10,000 inhabitants, where the situation has been deteriorating for months. “We go out, but hey, we look right and left who is behind or not”says a resident.

Medium-sized cities more and more affected by narcobanditry

The city will follow the path taken by Valence (Drôme), 60,000 inhabitants, where three men were shot dead during the week? For the past two years, images of settling scores have been bursting into towns that have hitherto been quiet. In Creusot (Saône-et-Loire), a man strafed the facade of a business last October. Near the port of Le Havre, a shooting broke out in broad daylight in April 2022 in the middle of car traffic.

The list of medium-sized towns affected by narcobanditism continues to grow. “These traffickers seek to sell their goods as much as possible, throughout the national territory”, explains Frédéric Veaux, director general of the national police. The mayors point to a drop in the police force in their municipalities.