Video In Villeurbanne, to keep drug traffickers away, local residents organize “cleanliness operations” by keeping in touch with little hands

A stone’s throw from downtown Lyon, close to universities or business centers, the Tonkin district in Villeurbanne has over the years become one of the largest “drug supermarkets” in the region. Exasperated by the repeated shootings and the powerlessness of the public authorities, a collective of HLM residents decided to resist. “Correspondent” followed this unprecedented citizen mobilization.

To disrupt traffic, local residents organize hotlines outside their homes. In order to alert public opinion, they even filmed themselves dislodging lookouts or sellers. But these little traffic hands number in the dozens, on duty from noon to midnight for 100 to 150 euros per day…

So, every Friday evening, Sylvie, French teacher and very active member of the “Tonkin PAIX-sible” collective, leads an action that focuses on prevention. With around twenty volunteers, she goes around the points of sale to collect the waste left by the dealers. “Special Envoy” accompanied her in this “cleanliness operation” which serves as a pretext to dialogue with these young people.

“Otherwise, it would be war… we would have garbage on the ground, screaming, insults…”

One of them, for example, told journalist Romain Boutilly that he had arrived there to escape trouble with a network of traffickers in Marseille. “So, you came here to work in peace, right?” Sylvie approaches him. The young Marseillais denies it for form’s sake, like those who claim “wait for the tram”. No one is fooled, but the conversation can begin. To conclude these always friendly exchanges, Sylvie wishes them “do something else with their life”. Crossing paths with former students during these maraudings “plunges into deep sadness.”

The teacher is one of the few to be interested in these all-black silhouettes, which can camp for hours at the foot of a building. Can encouraging them to leave the deal points clean really serve any purpose? Do “the old grandmother who says ‘But we don’t throw our papers on the ground’!”, It is “a little naive”, she recognizes, but beyond the cleanliness of the neighborhood, the challenge is also to keep in touch with young people who are often out of school and isolated. “We have it both ways: we’re not just bad guys who call the cops. We’re also nice people who say that it’s still a shame to do that at 20.”

Excerpt from “No drug dealers near my house!”, a report to watch in “Special Envoy” on February 15, 2024.

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