On the tram platform, at Plan Cabanes, in Montpellier (Hérault), a young man discreetly calls out to the passengers. “Cigarettes? Cigarettes? »In Gambetta, no need to look very far to see how this district, a few hundred meters from the Place de la Comédie, is plagued by trafficking of all kinds.
On October 28, the services of the State and the municipality carried out a punch operation in the area, between the Faubourg du Courreau and Plan Cabanes. The objective, “to reaffirm the republican authority”, for the mayor, Michaël Delafosse (PS), “to reconquer the city center”, for the prefect, Hugues Moutouh. This descent with great fanfare made it possible to arrest a dozen people, in particular for drug or tobacco trafficking. “Drug caches”, police note, have also been discovered.
🚔👮♀️important security operation at #Montpellier
➡️ the @ Prefet34 is committed to reclaiming the city center.
Hugues Moutouh & the mayor @MDelafosse were alongside the security forces ⤵️
Fight against narcotics, deal points, public intoxication; identity checks pic.twitter.com/mWWFGg4iTm– Prefect of Hérault (@ Prefet34) October 28, 2021
“Petty crimes that poison people’s lives”
According to a Montpellier police officer, a member of Unity-SGP Police, interviewed by 20 minutes, delinquency, in Gambetta, is far from new. “It has always been a neighborhood that has been talked about, he says. At the moment, it’s probably a little more publicized. “Notably, he continues, because” traders are starting to get tired. But we never found any significant quantity of narcotics in Gambetta. It is not organized crime, it is not serious delinquency, ”assures the police officer. Only “street dealing”, “petty crimes that poison people’s lives,” continues this peacekeeper. Of course, you can’t tolerate that sort of thing. “
For a resident engaged in the neighborhood committee, interviewed by 20 minutes, the Gambetta district is “an impressive and scandalous platform” for trafficking. “In front of the shops, everywhere… People are resigned. Desperate. They undergo. Fifteen years ago, it was not like that. But this resident is delighted, however, that things have changed in recent months with the arrival of the new mayor and the new prefect.
“Disrupt this traffic, by being as present as possible”
Sébastien Cote (PS), deputy mayor in charge of public tranquility, intends to do everything possible to regain a little serenity in Gambetta, even if the fight against trafficking “does not fall under municipal powers, but of the national police. , he warns. But what we can do, for the sake of public peace, is to disrupt this traffic, by being present as much as possible. Since June, in Gambetta, we have reached about fifty municipal police operations. “
The elected official also indicates that the mobile station of the municipal police, a truck that crisscrosses the neighborhoods, will be back in Gambetta soon. “It disrupts traffic,” says Sébastien Cote. The town will also equip the Faubourg du Courreau with three new CCTV cameras, which will allow the entire street, and the adjacent streets to be covered by the device. “This will facilitate the investigations of the national police, and us, target our interventions, when there are suspicious gatherings”, confides the elected official.