Controls on land and now from the air. This Friday, after a new shooting that broke out in the morning, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes went to the Moulins district, west of Nice, where drug trafficking is increasing, to announce the use of drones. State services intend to rely on this “additional tool” in addition to “forces on the ground” to target dealers but also consumers.
A “territorial war” between “rival gangs” is raging there against a backdrop of “intensification of drug trafficking”, recognized the prefect, Bernard Gonzalez, and the departmental director of Public Security a little more than a month.
1 kg of cannabis and 300 g of coke seized in one week
A situation due to “the inertia of the government” according to Christian Estrosi, who then announced the installation of new cameras and the hiring of private security agents to avoid a “Marseille-style” situation in his city. The use of drones is in any case good news for the municipality. “I am delighted that Gérald Darmanin has granted our request that we have been making to him for several months with Christian Estrosi”, reacted on Twitter the first deputy mayor of Nice Anthony Borré.
The prefecture, according to which public action has always been “strong, determined”, has been communicating for several weeks reports of the action carried out on the ground. The last, released to the press on Wednesday, reported, for the week of April 24 to May 1 alone, 37 arrests, with six presentations to the prosecution, two of which resulted in detention. Over the same period, 991 g of cannabis, 313 g of cocaine and 4,852 euros in cash were seized. The individual suspected of having fired a dozen shots this Friday morning, without causing any injuries, was also arrested.