In the sensitive district of Les Moulins, west of Nice, disturbing scenes are multiplying. Shots have erupted several times in recent days. Weapons of war are exhibited. A “territorial war” between “rival gangs” is raging against a backdrop of “intensification of drug trafficking”, recognized the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes and the departmental director of public security, meeting Monday in front of the press.
“Public action is strong, determined” to stem it, also assured the representative of the State Bernard Gonzalez. The mayor of Nice is developing another version. Christian Estrosi denounces “the inertia of the government” and announces this Wednesday evening to AFP the launch of an action plan to avoid a “Marseille-style” situation in his city.
This declaration comes in particular after the broadcast of a video shot on March 24 and showing a man apparently carrying a weapon of war. She had notably been retweeted by the LR deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes Éric Ciotti. Shots had been fired that day without causing any injuries, and two individuals had been arrested.
This minor and this adult were indicted for “criminal association for the commission of a murder in an organized gang”. Two other people were also indicted on Wednesday following another shooting on March 31, the Nice prosecutor’s office told 20 minutes. In total, since March 24, nine people have been arrested and four weapons and drugs have been seized.
New cameras and private security guards
Dealers “are trying to take control” of the city, says Christian Estrosi, who first intends, to prevent them, “to strengthen the video protection network” at the entrances and exits of the Moulins district. From Thursday, “LPR cameras [à lecture automatique des plaques d’immatriculation] will be installed,” he told AFP. They will be there to “attempt to identify and track dealers and consumers” and to “help provide evidence to the police,” he said.
The mayor of Nice has also planned to propose to the City Council, convened on April 14, to bring together voluntary donors “to hire private security agents”. They “will make rounds, monitor buildings and stairwells” and “compensate for the lack of staff of the national police”, supports the city councilor, who is counting on the formation of a team of twenty-four people from here at the end of the year.
A new “sector” with migrants
Christian Estrosi, who denounces the “inertia” of the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin despite having been alerted “on multiple occasions”, indicates that the latter has not provided him with an answer either on another closely related file, according to him, out of the neighborhood. The elected official offered him the creation of a “temporary” administrative detention center with 60 places, in addition to the current structure of 40 places, while “60% of the dealers at the Moulins are illegals”, advances the mayor from Nice. On Monday, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes had himself admitted that there was a new “sector”, with the use of “migrants, without papers, paid and housed in squats”.
Asked about the means available, Bernard Gonzalez conceded: “We would like to be able to do more to deal with the ingenuity of our adversaries”. “In any case, we are doing everything to avoid an escalation”, so that “there is not a Marseille-style drift”, he also declared, specifying that the last deadly settling of scores in Nice “dated back to December 24, 2021 in Las Planas”, another sensitive area of the city. A situation still far from that of the Marseille city, where fourteen people have lost their lives, against a background of drug trafficking, since the beginning of this year.