Settlements of scores, shootings, executions, etc. The Franche-Comté capital Besançon is affected by a gang war between dealers. Also, in recent months, the number of procedures related to drug trafficking has exploded in the Doubs, noted Wednesday the public prosecutor Etienne Manteaux during a press briefing. A press point taking stock of crime in the department for 2022 and early 2023, alongside the prefect, Jean-François Colombet.
Thus, in 2022, 1,712 people were implicated in narcotics-related cases in the Doubs, where 5.4 tonnes of herbal cannabis were seized. The settling of scores has multiplied in recent years in Besançon, particularly in the Planoise district, the scene of several deadly shootings against the backdrop of a turf war between drug dealers.
The very affected Planoise district
In this district alone, public security action in 2022 led to the arrest of 635 people, the seizure of more than 21 kg of cannabis, 4 kg of heroin and 3 kg of cocaine, as well as 15 fire arms. This rise in violence has led to the death of at least three people in Besançon in recent months. A 15-year-old boy was killed in a shootout in mid-December, another man was shot dead in late February and the partly charred corpse of a third, shot in the head, was discovered last week. Another person is still missing.
tongues loosen
This violence is such that police and gendarmes have obtained more information in recent days from those arrested. “Clearly, some offenders are afraid of what is happening in Besançon”, where individuals “do not hesitate to kill or even burn bodies”, Etienne Manteaux said on Monday. According to the magistrate, “there is a feeling of fear which leads some offenders or some witnesses (…) to speak to the gendarmerie”, which was not the case until now.
In addition, the year 2022 was characterized in the Doubs by a sharp increase in domestic violence, with a 43.4% increase in the number of victims compared to 2021, 80% of whom are women.