ANPMister Darmanin together with officers, today in Saint-Denis
NOS Nieuws•gisteren, 22:07
Police in France have made 1,738 arrests in ten days in a nationwide operation against drug criminals. Interior Minister Darmanin announced this. The campaign has recently been criticized in French media as ineffective.
The raids are part of a strategy launched last summer, aimed at shutting down around 4,000 places in France where drugs are sold. According to authorities, 2.4 million euros in cash and 150 kilos of drugs were seized in the recent actions.
“We will continue with the anti-drug operations,” the minister said. He states that the actions will have a huge impact. According to the minister, the fight against drugs should not only be conducted in the field of safety. According to him, information in education is also important, as is the fight against addiction. The minister also pointed out the responsibility that parents have.
Correspondent Frank Renout:
“I think the minister is announcing this now because there has been a lot of criticism in recent days. The opposition and police unions said the long-running drug operation was mainly for show. Hardly any drugs have been seized, and in a week the police will be gone again and trade continues again. This is Darmanin’s answer that results are indeed being achieved.
The national operation ‘Place nette XXL’ has been running for a few months. The out of control situation in Marseille was the reason. Dozens of people were killed there last year in fights between drug gangs. Last week there was a major police action in that city, with President Macron and many cameras present. Then came the criticism from politicians and trade unions.”
Residents of Marseille are, on the one hand, happy that the police are taking large-scale action, writes Le Figaro. Citizens are fed up with heavy gang violence. But two residents who spoke in the newspaper do not think the situation will change significantly. They fear that the dealers will return once the police leave.
There is also a discussion in the Netherlands about effective combating drug crime. Recently, Mayor Halsema of Amsterdam said that the so-called War on Drugs does not work. She advocated an alternative strategy and structural economic investments in vulnerable neighborhoods. Halsema made her plea at a conference on organized crime, attended by several European ministers.
2024-03-30 21:07:31
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