Paris (AFP)
Paris police prefect Didier Lallement decided on Friday to evacuate drug addicts from the Jardin d'Éole sector (19th arrondissement), the current point of attachment for crack users in northeastern Paris.
"An operation is taking place, aimed at regrouping these people on the outskirts of Place Auguste Baron, Porte de la Villette, in a neighborhood without residents in the immediate vicinity," said the police headquarters in a statement.
"On my instruction, the police headquarters this morning evacuated drug addicts from the Jardins d'Éole and Stalingrad sectors. The fight against drugs is a daily struggle and I heard the anger of residents," commented in the same time on Twitter the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin.
"The closure of the Eole gardens to crack users decided by the Paris city hall has since the beginning of July caused particularly high nuisance for residents of Riquet and Aubervilliers streets, in a particularly unsuitable urban configuration: narrow and busy street, proximity immediate housing and schools, "she argued.
In mid-May, the prefecture and town hall had agreed to bring together drug addicts in the north of the Eole gardens, a historic site of consumption on the border of the 18th and 19th arrondissements, in order to relieve the residents of the neighboring area of Stalingrad.
But at the end of June, Anne Hidalgo decided to put an end to this temporary situation by prohibiting crack users from accessing the park, so that the inhabitants regain possession of it.
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