Stéphane Burgatt / Credits: Nicolas TUCAT / AFP 9:43 a.m., February 8, 2024

In France, drug trafficking generates 2.7 billion euros each year, according to estimates. If part of this sum is spent in cash, another is reinjected into legal circuits. This money laundering is carried out in particular via businesses that are established on the street, such as barbers or sandwich shops, but their operations raise questions, as in this district of the 13th arrondissement of Marseille. 

In the Saint-Just district of the 13th arrondissement of Marseille, there are beautiful, flashy windows with visuals and neon lights, but few or no customers. From the church square, the ride does not escape the elders of the neighborhood.

“When you have more snacks than customers... When you look around and you see that you have packages of meat packaged, uneaten and not expired, you can ask yourself questions,” Monique confides on the microphone of Europe 1.

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Lack of consistency

Night food, snack bar, barber shop, small shops abound on this avenue of the city, but in a totally inconsistent manner according to Michel Cordier, former trader here and above all president of the neighborhood committee.

“I took stock and for example, there are a lot of hairdressers,” he assures. “In this small space, there are eleven. Same thing, there are a lot of sandwich vendors. It’s not consistent.” 

But to be completely effective against drug trafficking, it would be necessary to be able to cut off all the heads of the hydra, explains Rudy Manna, spokesperson for the Alliance police union. "We don't have time to really work on it. Today, we're hitting them hard in terms of drug trafficking," he says.

“What they have on them, we seize it, but all this money that arrives in these cities every day, we sometimes talk about 60 million euros, this money is somewhere,” he still wonders Rudy Manna. The magistrates have also recently become interested in bigger fish with the dismantling of two money laundering networks via the construction industry and a security agency.