When President Macron declared war on Marseilles’s ultra-violent drugs gangs in March, one crime boss phoned the public broadcaster FranceInfo from his prison cell to mock the “unprecedented” police crackdown.
“All the prisoners, we all had a good laugh in front of the TV,” he said in a conversation broadcast on national television. Using an illegal mobile phone, he said police patrols were designed to impress the media but had little impact on street dealing.
“They go for a little walk around. That takes 15 or 20 minutes, then they leave,” he said. The broadcaster verified the identity of the convict, who is serving a lengthy sentence in Marseilles’ Baumettes prison for drugs trafficking and money laundering but did not name him and disguised his voice.
