Every day we lose more and more power to drug networks: their violence and influence spreads over ever wider and more diverse territories. Human trafficking is unlike other crimes: it is global, organized and highly attractive to criminals who use modern communications technology, and is systematically one step ahead of law enforcement services.
This undermines the foundations of our society because besides toxic products, the danger lies in the billions of euros that drug trafficking generates and recycles in our economic system through local grocery stores, nail salons, barbershops, prestigious real estate, vineyards, art markets… These flows are integrated into the real economy and ultimately weaken our economic ecosystem and democracy. Combating human trafficking means protecting our country from the growing influence of organized crime.
Several reasons explain the severity of this evil. First, these activities do not require technical qualifications, but rather a willingness to use force to defend a territory. Therefore, there is an almost endless pool of apprentice and permanent replacement dealers. Then, rapid and significant progress attracted young people to drop out of school and become desocialized. This “job” remains short and risky but profitable enough to make it an option.
However, arrests of criminals and confiscation of products continue to increase (128 tonnes of marijuana in 2022, 53.5 tonnes of cocaine in 2024), but these figures do little to hinder the organization’s activities. Estimates from the French Observatory on Drugs and Addiction Trends (OFDT) estimate profits from this trade at 3 billion euros per year, other observers put the figure at 7 billion. At the same time, security forces noted that 40 to 60% of public crimes were related to human trafficking, and recorded a sharp increase in homicides of +57% and an increase in the number of additional victims, including minors.
Violence not only serves to eliminate competitors but also to challenge state authority. The message is clear: “this territory is ours”.
“Don’t give anything to criminals”
Responding to this distrust requires absolute firmness, coordination and freedom from the eternal right/left divide whose repressive or preventive dogmas have paralyzed reflection for decades. We must go beyond ideological posturing to build a pragmatic and operational philosophy that is integrated with all the driving forces of the nation: state, community, operational actors and civil society.
We are prepared for this because, paradoxically, consumers are a lever: their numbers mean that all political groups have within them supporters of different approaches.
In the beginning, we must not give up or resign. The Republic cannot hand anything over to criminals, this is a matter of principle and demands of the majority of citizens who respect the law.
The state, through coordination with society, must mobilize all national and municipal security forces and involve private security actors.
Police action must be maintained and strengthened, both against street trade and against international networks. The state, through coordination with society, must mobilize all national and municipal security forces and involve private security actors. All modern tools (drones, on-board cameras, artificial intelligence, facial recognition) must be considered.
But police pressure will only have an effect if it is accompanied by firm judicial repression: considering unavoidable minimum sentences for certain offenses is legitimate.
It is in conditions like these that traffic will leave public roads, return space to civic life, and put a brake on crime and violence on the streets. This first victory over the presence of real and violent evil is not enough. The “uberization” of traffic and the dematerialization of sales will require other forms of struggle, including modern investigative means through cyber investigations and digital and digital infiltration.
Second, a fundamental strategic choice will emerge: will we continue to strive to eradicate drugs or ultimately concentrate on destroying illegal networks?
Eliminating products is an illusion, hundreds of thousands of users confirm this, our country holds the gold medal in the number of consumers. We must therefore agree to focus efforts on national and international criminals who profit from human trafficking and undermine our national and economic security. The time has come to attack the foundations of an illegal trade whose monetary amounts do not generate profits for either the state or citizens.
The debate over legalization still creates divisions between prohibitionists and supporters of a purely health-related approach, but this should not be considered taboo. Regulations through legalization that are “not evil and not arrogant” can be an offensive weapon against the mafia as long as they are integrated into long-term policies.
The ambition: dare to implement a complete innovative strategy, without ignoring reasonable methods.
Founding member of the Internal Security Initiative (ISI) and author:
Jean Michel Fauvergue – Retired police officer, former head of RAID, former deputy, author of “Neither give up, nor resign”
Bruno Pomart – Retired police officer and President of RAID Aventure
Linda Kebbab – Police officer and National Secretary of the UN1Té union
