Action reaction. On September 5, The Parisian dedicated his front page dossier to “the lost war against drug dealers”. The newspaper gave the floor to several police officers specializing in the fight against narcotics. And for the latter, the State’s strategy consisting, for many years, of tirelessly combating trafficking networks is undeniably a failure. Would the Minister of the Interior have been stung? Gérald Darmanin tried, a few days later, to convince the readers of the daily that he can succeed where all his predecessors have failed.
In an interview, he presented his weapon to lead what he compared to “the battle of Stalingrad”: a “national investigation unit” to combat drug trafficking, on “the model of the CRS 8”, this unit specialized in the fight against urban violence. Made up of around a hundred staff, it could be deployed for several weeks in a city “to support local services to carry out large-scale operations, either in reaction or prevention”.
A “not very thoughtful” measure
When reading this interview, many PJ investigators choked up. They have in fact mobilized for several weeks to denounce the reform of the national police, which will be effective from January 1, and which marks, according to them, the end of the judicial police imagined by Georges Clémenceau in 1907. Among them , Frédéric*, an experienced police officer who has worked at OFAST for around ten years, does not understand the logic of this measure which does not seem “very well thought out”.
“The fight against narcotics is far from won,” he admits. We can move around in all directions, have one idea per week. But traffickers are not afraid of Mr. Darmanin’s announcements. The sound of Kalashnikovs is heard almost every day. Dismantling networks during sting operations, with investigators who will come as reinforcements for a few weeks… It’s just a joke! If it were possible, we would already do it. »
“The experienced investigators are with us”
What will this mobile unit be used for? The DCPJ – central directorate of the judicial police – already has an office responsible for combating drug trafficking throughout the territory, and which obtains honorable results. “And we never talk about the work of the Marseille criminal brigade, which often manages to identify and arrest the perpetrators of shootings that cause victims. »
According to Frédéric, the presence of police officers from this unborn unit in police stations risks creating “a bad atmosphere”. “Local police officers will see colleagues arrive in their department, surely well-intentioned, but who will claim to do better than them in a few days, in a territory they do not know. » The investigator underlines that “the long-term files that we elucidate require a year of work, sometimes two, when it is not more”.
He also wonders who the police officers will be who will join this unit. “Where will they find them, the colleagues with the backpacks and their suitcases, ready to leave for three weeks? The experienced investigators are with us. So we’re going to divert them from their current missions to join this unit? Specialized people, in any case, are not found after school. »
“We will never win”
Obviously, Frédéric is not against the idea of strengthening specialized services in terms of staff and resources. Many more police officers are needed, particularly in the Antilles, the entry point for cocaine into France. “But even if there were more of us, would we manage to obtain convincing results in the fight against narcotics? Frankly, I don’t know,” he confides. And added that, according to him, “we will never win” against drug trafficking. “It’s impossible,” he insists. Each time we make a large seizure, we know that this only represents a tiny part of the drugs that pass through. »
Faced with the announcements of the Minister of the Interior, who prides himself on “treating” the deal points established in the cities, Frédéric notices that the dealers “reestablish themselves immediately”. Because the vast majority of people who are arrested during police operations are “coal miners [des vendeurs] or kids watching, sitting on chairs.”
“Only doing repressive measures is not enough”
We must then take, says the policeman, the problem as a “whole”, and not simply from the “repressive” prism. Frédéric has a “strong opinion” on the question of a possible legalization or decriminalization of cannabis and thinks that we should not “give up this fight”.
On the other hand, he said, “more staff” would be needed to carry out lengthy investigations, establishing “longer prison sentences for traffickers”. “But just the repressive side is not enough,” he emphasizes, adding that more “prevention” should be done with consumers.
*As this official is subject to a duty of confidentiality, he testifies anonymously. His first name has been changed.