Editorial. The urgency of sacred unity in dealing with drug trafficking

A series of attacks linked to drug trafficking, from Marseille to Grenoble via Corsica, shows an alarming increase in criminals targeting even innocent people. The fight against drug traffickers is the business of everyone committed to the rule of law, whatever their partisan label.

Eradicating drug trafficking is an emergency and a government priority. A series of further events showed that drug traffickers were determined to challenge the State. Thursday, November 13, a boy was killed in Marseille, perhaps because he was the younger brother of Amine Kessaci, an environmental activist involved in the fight against drug trafficking, candidate in the last legislative elections.

The killing was unprecedented, as it was not a form of resolution of the killings between rival clans that have shed blood in Marseille for years, but an act aimed at silencing those who dared to stand up against the ravages of the drug trade. Amine Kessaci and his family have now been placed under police protection. On Saturday, in Bastia and Ajaccio, thousands of people marched to break the silence regarding the influence of the mafia on the Isle of Beauty. And on Sunday morning in Grenoble, a 12-year-old child was seriously injured as he neared the deal point. The court has not yet been able to confirm, but this tragedy may be related to the drug trade which is the center of drug trafficking in Grenoble.

The government is not remaining silent. The Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nunez, promised to apply “with great determination” new laws against drug trafficking that, in particular, created a specific national prosecutor’s office, expanded the status of penitents and gave the police more resources to gather information and dismantle networks. His predecessor, Bruno Retailleau, had raised concerns “Mexicanization” our country. The phrase is controversial. But the murders that occurred on Thursday in Marseille seem to fall within this logic: that the mafia is ready to kill innocent people to silence those who dare to denounce, in a lawful and peaceful way, their criminal activities. This pattern has become common in certain Latin American countries, where human traffickers eliminate activists, journalists or judges in order to apply their own laws rather than those of the failed state.

Faced with these difficulties, elected officials must choose “holy union”. The mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, called for it. The fight against drug traffickers is the business of everyone committed to the rule of law, whatever their partisan label. And now it concerns almost all regions: not only emblematic sites, such as Marseille, Grenoble or Corsica, but also small towns or villages where the drug trade has expanded its influence. Unfortunately, pressure is already being put on some elected officials. Although according to opinion polls, security is the top priority for voters in this election, the upcoming regional campaign will also be a test of the resilience of our democracy in the face of the threat of drug trafficking.