Overview
- Local merchants report groups of children aged roughly 10 to 15 repeatedly targeting stores in central Toulouse.
- Shopkeepers estimate about 60 businesses have been hit over the past 18 months using a well-rehearsed distraction tactic.
- Surveillance videos and testimonies describe teams taking phones, computers, and cash after one youth diverts staff attention.
- Several employees say they were shoved or knocked to the ground when they tried to intervene or call police.
- A police union representative suggests organized networks may exploit very young minors, noting French law bars police custody for those under 13, and national police and judicial authorities did not comment.