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Surge in Drug-Related Shootings and Brawls Hits Southern French Cities

Authorities have launched specialized probes with reinforced patrols to stem a surge in drug-turf violence across vulnerable southern neighborhoods

Deux policiers dans le quartier Valdegour, à Nîmes;  le vendredi 27 juin, où a eu lieu une fusillade, faisant huit blessés.
Image d’illustration.
Image d’illustration.
La victime, «issue de la communauté turque», souffrait d’une fracture à l’arrière du crâne causée par un objet contondant (image d’illustration).

Overview

  • Avignon’s Monclar district saw an overnight shooting of three men, one critically injured and two known for drug dealing, prompting an investigation by the organized-crime division.
  • In Mâcon’s Marbé quarter, a predawn street brawl involving up to 100 people armed with tools left one man with a skull fracture and six others lightly wounded, leading to an attempted-murder inquiry and an arrest.
  • The Division of Organized Crime in Gard and Hérault continues to probe the June 27 Valdegour shooting in Nîmes that wounded six youths, recovering about 20 .222 Remington casings while three suspects remain at large.
  • Residents from Nîmes to Mâcon have voiced growing alarm over recurring violence in under-policed neighborhoods marked by competing narcotics turf wars.
  • Officials are bolstering patrols and deploying specialized units as a broader national debate unfolds over policing strategies in drug-plagued urban peripheries.