2:19
I also arrive which happened to me in Nant it has almost become an inevitability not a week goes by without the police being called for a assault this afternoon, a man in his forties has just been savagely stabbed in a working-class area of the city. Captain Cécile and her men rush to the scene to secure the area and try to find the attacker. Did you hear roughly what the report said Yeah. Black jogging pants with a kitchen knife, cap on backwards. That's something that happens often in Nantes. At the beginning of my transfer, when I arrived in Nant, no, it was quite rare. This has been quite common for the last 2 or 3 years. And I'm going to cut the blue one because if the other one is ever in the corner. In the area, more than 30 police officers
were deployed to cordon off the perimeter. Cécile will supervise the intervention. How are you? So, as a result, you closed the street. Perfect. OK. Perfect. The victim was taken care of by firefighters and SAMU teams. She suffered a cardiac arrest. She reportedly received several stab wounds, including a serious cut to the main artery in her thigh. Clearly, it wasn't a small knife. We were talking about a certain size and so, a priori, the firefighters had their say that the femoral artery might have been affected. This also explains the extent of the pool of blood that
may be on the ground. But it's true, that's impressive. The injured man, a real estate agent and family man with no prior criminal record, was leaving his agency at the time of the tragedy. To understand what happened, Cécile questions the witnesses. What exactly did you see? I saw a young man actually walk past me with a large pig in his hand and my mother managed to notice that there was care on his neck. All right. Several residents of the neighborhood witnessed the attack. They are very shocked. It's okay madam, it'll be fine. Let's see if we have a psychologist here today. You never know if you'll want to see it. All right.
The victim underwent emergency surgery and will survive, but will require many months of convalescence for his recovery. The police arrested the attacker a few days later. He confessed to stabbing the real estate agent with a hunting knife. A bad look, a moment of madness, he will give no valid reason to explain his action. A gratuitous, incomprehensible violence, now commonplace for police officers. We've had quite a few attacks with knives, bladed weapons, or broken bottles. We see things that are out of the ordinary but can be extremely shocking.
Violence has really escalated both in the neighborhoods and in the city center of Nantes. This situation tarnishes the image of this booming prefecture of the Pays de la Loire. Located 50 km from the Atlantic Ocean, Nant and its surrounding area form an agglomeration of more than 600,000 inhabitants. With a lower than average unemployment rate, the city has been praised for years for its dynamism and quality of life. It is at the forefront in new technologies, agri-food and aeronautics. Nearly 15,000 new residents are drawn to the area every year. This is one of the strongest population growth rates in France. But today, the city of the dukes, as it is nicknamed because of its castle, seems to be a victim of its own success.
Nant is experiencing an explosion of crime. Oh, that's enough, it's pointless. In total, more than 3300 assaults were recorded in Nant in 2022. More than 8% compared to the previous year, or an average of 9 per day. If we have a nici, we're in Baghdad. In response to the emergency, the authorities sent a company of riot police to the scene. A police presence that has helped to reduce crime figures but does not solve the problem at its source. For several years, the center of Nant has become a refuge for migrants in great precarity. Most want to integrate and survive through associations. But a minority of them commit multiple offenses. You don't work, you don't have a place to live, and you walk around with wads
of cash in your pockets. They sell narcotics in full view of everyone and even go so far as to rob the locals at nightfall. To try and understand their method, we infiltrated these groups using hidden cameras. That's all there is here, nothing but traffickers. We also sell cannabis, medicines, and cocaine. On the outskirts, Nant also has several sensitive areas where traffickers have opened veritable drug supermarkets. Drugs are profitable, very profitable. In recent months, as in many large cities in France, violence has escalated. The dealers settle their scores with high-caliber weapons.
Faced with these criminals who operate with impunity in their city, residents and shopkeepers are organizing themselves and signing up for self-defense courses. Assault, trafficking, settling of scores. What is happening in Nant? Why are law enforcement agencies struggling to curb insecurity? It's late afternoon in the center of Nant. Victoire is enjoying the last rays of sunshine. At 52, this former ambulance driver has crisscrossed the city.
She knows it by heart and is very attached to it. Here we are in the Bouffet district which is really the old Nantes district with its little streets that go off in all directions, the restaurants, the bars, the bistros. It's really great place to have a drink, especially when it's hot. And beautiful with its pedestrian streets and numerous historic buildings, Nan is one of the most beautiful cities in France. Victoire previously lived in Paris. She fell under its spell when she discovered it about twenty years ago. She and her husband settled in the city center in this 18th- century building.
No, is that okay? Yeah. Would you like to have a coffee? Ah, I'd like that. Yeah, me too. The couple invested in this 100 m² apartment, typical of the old quarter of Nantes. This was Noéem's apartment. Everything was grouped together, the old one, the wood. Uh, there we go, we're walking, it creaks. With her three children, now grown and independent, the mother spent happy days here. But for the past few months, his morale has been at its lowest because his neighborhood has changed . Victoire notices it every time she opens her window. I don't know if he was saying hello or if he was arguing. Ah, those are some vulgarities. That 's nice.
What does he mean by that? dirty Those men who insult him are drug dealers. They set up their sales outlet at the bottom of her building, right in the city center. Ah, why are you filtering it? And he threatens all those who disturb them. Ah, that's all. And actually, what do you have against it? I know they feel like I'm watching them, that I'm simply seeing what they're doing, and they're very clearly afraid for their
extremely lucrative business. So they're afraid of being evicted, right? That's not the case at the moment. Yeah. Victoire regularly alerts the police. They intervene often, but the situation persists. So, together with her neighbors, she is trying to gather evidence to raise awareness among public authorities. I'm going to show you a video on my phone that my neighbor took last winter and it's just terrifying. These are all the drug dealers we have in front of our house. And then we get insulted. There you go, you have a rating and on top of that, here's what happens with all the dealers. Ralbol ral bol vivant.
They're scary. They have a zombie-like look. They are completely under the influence of drugs. Out of desperation, Victoire and her husband made a radical decision. Selling their apartment to move far from Nantes and especially far from the drug dealers who terrorize them daily. Dozens of them are kept outside day and night here in the city centre, a stone's throw from the town hall and the hospital. Called the Fedo district, this immense pedestrian square lined with mansions and green space was in the 18th century the home of wealthy shipowners specializing in maritime trade.
Today, drug dealers and drug addicts occupy public spaces. Using a hidden camera, we went to meet them. Right away, one of them approached us to sell us narcotics. Hey you rascals, I'm not looking to buy any cocaine. This man claims to be from Germany, but we won't know anything more about him. A little further on, another man who only speaks Arabic offers us pregabalin tablets. Normally used to treat epilepsy. This drug is a powerful and highly addictive anxiolytic. It costs €2.50 per stamp. Dealers sell these hidden drugs in broad daylight to drug addicts seeking their euphoric and disinhibiting effects. At high doses, this drug can also cause aggressive behavior. In this square, locals
regularly film fights like the one that happened that day in the middle of the afternoon. Drug dealers are fighting with shovels and knives. against a security guard who wanted to prevent a robbery. Police are often called out to deal with these outbreaks of violence that take place in front of residents. A few days later, still in the same place, at 7pm, a new Ric appeared. Apparently, there was an assault during the class. The municipal police will also be on site at the moment. Ludovic and his fellow officers will have to separate the protagonists.
Migrants from Guinea who had reportedly been drinking alcohol and using narcotics. Upon arrival, the police officer discovers a scene worthy of a horror movie. He's having his lip bitten off. He raised his hand with his mouth, he lifted one of the men with a torn lip, the other is covered in blood, no it's the lip, he's the one who broke the bottle and the bottle turned against him and there you have it, apparently there is an altercation between two people. Someone took out a bottle which they broke with a shard of glass. They threatened each other and one of the individuals had his lip torn off; the man allegedly bit his lip. In the pitch black of night,
police officers had to comb the lawns to try and find the tip of the lip. to go to the other one he's going to hit like that he left like that because there's nothing there sir the lip there Ludovic's colleagues will finally find it half an hour later we're going to the hospital sir we'll take you go he left in the neighborhood these news items to repeat have made the lives of the inhabitants impossible and the first to suffer are the shopkeepers. In the small surrounding streets, there are dozens of shops and restaurants. The area was known for being chic and lively. But today, the owners of these establishments are suffering from this rise in crime.
You add up the sum from the table right there and bring it to them. Olivia runs this trendy brasserie. With its small team of around ten employees. She often works late and recently on several occasions, she and her staff have been victims of assault. The first time, I was going to a parking lot where someone followed me all the way to the parking lot. The second time, the following day, one of my male employees, a 20-year-old student, was attacked by three individuals in the evening on his way home. And the third time, we actually intervened in a fight and uh an attack on neighbors and uh it backfired on us because the individual threw my tables and chairs uh turning against the restaurant.
I'm leaving you for a good cause. Yes, for the good of Bouderonner, Olivier decided to join an association of angry shopkeepers. Today, she is participating with them in a demonstration to denounce the recent explosion of crime. And a first victory for the association. More than 1000 people from all walks of life responded to the call. That's good because it seems to have a lot of citizens rather than just restaurant owners.
Among the protesters were shopkeepers but also desperate residents who wanted to loudly voice their frustration. Security doesn't want it. No to security, no. I was assaulted in a nightclub 3 years ago. I ended up in the hospital. We are fed up with all this gratuitous violence that is ruining all our lives. The explosion of murders, of shootings, that's quite, quite mind-blowing. We are in a city like Nant, I think we have 50 fusions, fifty fusions since the beginning of the year.
Assault, fight and even rape, not a day goes by without a new winter incident being reported. Guillaume is doing the math at the microphone. This security guard who works for a nightclub is the organizer of the event. So far, we're at eight restaurant owners who have been attacked. The last date, a waitress, a barmaid, goes home. At 2:30 in the morning, she gets punched because she refuses to give someone a cigarette even though she is a non-smoker. There is one more driver from your company last night who was held at gunpoint in his tram and this is no longer possible.
Ironically, while the protesters were shouting their anger, they were being targeted. Stop, stop, stop. Gently, gently, gently, gently. What's going on? What's happening over there? This young man, eager for a fight, defends the drug dealers in the city center. He does not appear to be in a normal state. Guillaume intervened before he was beaten up by the most aggressive protesters. It's good. For the president of the association, this altercation shows once again the worrying situation in which Nant finds itself today. As we can clearly see here, it's more a feeling of insecurity as has been
said, it's an observation. There is a real sense of insecurity in Nant when all you want is to live and work without being attacked, but as a result, you get attacked. That's not possible. That's not Where did this surge in violence come from? Most of the men who frequent the city center are foreigners. Some residents are therefore suggesting an immigration problem. In 5 years across the entire department, the number of asylum seekers has almost doubled. In Nant, around thirty associations are trying to help them, but all denounce the conflation that is often made between immigration and delinquency. Be careful because there's something underneath. That's kind. Thank you, sir.
It is 10 a.m. OK. Barbara is getting ready for a busy day. She works to help others. A Protestant institution that receives around sixty migrants in dire straits each month. Bye. Men and women who mostly left their country to flee war and poverty. There are already about ten of them waiting in the waiting room. Here, go ahead, we'll settle in here. Steps to apply for asylum in order to find accommodation. Meal distribution. THANKS. Thank you so much.
French lessons. Paper. Yes, it's for you. Each week, Barbara and her colleagues try to find solutions to the problems of these migrants. I'm going to go get some toys. [laughs] This morning, first appointment with a woman and her baby from Ivory Coast. She is without resources and is asking for help. Do you need, for example, diapers, things like that? Yeah. This woman crossed the Mediterranean in a makeshift boat in the hope of a better life in Europe. But today, she is bogged down in administrative procedures.
She has not yet applied for asylum in France and finds herself in the meantime without benefits and without the possibility of working. Where are you right now, madam, to sleep? It was the 115 emergency hotline that provided me with accommodation. Was it the 115 emergency hotline that housed you? Yeah. So there is still a hotel room that has been reserved for the lady, which removes part of the problem. Finally, afterwards you have to survive. Daily life is expensive. Baby food and toiletry kit. I still have some. Hop.
Barbara is addressing the most urgent needs. But in 18 months, I haven't achieved much. Every day, she is confronted with situations that are each more dramatic than the last. Some small jars, there's chicken in them, things like that. All right. So. and it reflects the image of delinquency which, according to her, is often unfairly associated with migrants. There are many misconceptions surrounding insecurity and migrants. I've been working in the migration sector for quite some time now, and it's a debate that we see resurfacing frequently.
The debate surrounding foreign people is generating insecurity in France. I can calmly say that this is not the reality. Foreigners are human beings like everyone else. So we have people who behave well, and we have others who do not behave well. So there you have it, that's the story of humanity. The first request, even from people who are in an irregular situation, is, uh, "I would like papers because I would like to be able to work." Sit down next to it. As it happens, Gabriel, a colleague of Barbara's, receives a Sudanese man who fled the civil war in his country.
He obtained refugee status and has already worked on farms. He would like Gabriel to help him find a new job. What are you looking for? in the tomatoes. I'll see what we can get. I don't think we'll have tomatoes, but we can have other things in agriculture. Gabriel will offer him alternative options. It won't be tomatoes, but market gardening You may have found a job there. Yes, in order to get a job, some people will even go so far as to break the law. This is the case of the Moroccan man whom Barbara has just received. He is undocumented but works regularly as a warehouse worker in factories in Nantes thanks to forged documents.
A situation that no longer shocks anyone. Barbara, I can see what you're showing as a map there. I didn't bring it back. Do n't you have a photo? I don't think so. It's not a big deal otherwise. It's what? It's a residence permit. It's a Spanish map. OK, that works. The situation of that gentleman is still quite astonishing. Yeah, surprising but actually quite common. We have a lot of people who work with real fake papers who, uh, who, well, in fact, who are trying to find a way to work.
Is it complicated to get paperwork here Yeah, it's complicated. I came here to earn my living, for our life. How could I have failed Barbara will try to regularize her situation. Thanks to her and her colleagues, many migrants manage to obtain papers and also a job. It works very well. Well, have a good day. Thank you for your help. See you soon. Bye. But in Nantes, not everyone goes through these associations and poverty pushes a minority of them into trafficking and delinquency. family. That's what the police are observing.
It's a little after 10 p.m. Captain François and his men patrol the city center. In the evening, thousands of students come to party there. And the captain regularly sees criminals trying to take advantage of their drunkenness to rob them. It always works the same way. He is always a heavily intoxicated, isolated individual. Last time, he was so drunk he was unable to tell us who he had hit, how many there were. He had been knocked out immediately and, on the other hand, he was completely stripped. He had more liquid on him. He no longer had a credit card. He had simply left her wallet with her health insurance card inside.
Tonight will be no exception. Get out of here first, I'll kill you. Don't mow down all over the map. That's enough. While the captain tries to calm down some young people who are insulting each other over alcohol, nothing happens. A first warning sign appears. One of his colleagues is requesting backup. In the short story, there's a girl who gets all her belongings stolen, her phone and everything, by two guys. A few meters away, his colleagues managed to arrest three very agitated suspects. They are young migrants. One of the three, the tallest who doesn't want to give in, is known for numerous robberies and armed violence
The victim is a student who was leaving a bar with her partner. Her mobile phone has just been stolen. She is in shock. He was flirting with me. I rejected them several times. And then there came a moment when they got too close, I pushed them away without realizing they had stolen my phone with my bank card in it. And honestly, I'm a student, I can barely afford to pay my rent and buy food, and I'm going to have my phone stolen that I've had for years because I have no way to change it. Unfortunately for her, the police were unable to find the phone on any of the three suspects. But at the time of his arrest, one
of the young men, the tallest, had on him a bag that did not belong to him. Oh well, it has everything. Yeah, it was another person who gave me my driver's license and everything. It was another person who was robbed. It's true. Yeah, always the same. It was the three people arrested who blurted that out when we passed it to them. Yeah. I think they gave up before they could be caught. The young migrant who was carrying the bag will be taken to the station and prosecuted for REL.
I didn't see anything. That's it, she's doing nothing. Your grandmother is a repeat offender. He will be sentenced to prison. The other two left free. It's like the world is getting all your belongings stolen. We can't find anything. And we have a bag full of money, and we don't have the owner. For the captain, the night is far from over. Just a few minutes later, another intervention. His colleagues in the video surveillance department are watching a flight live thanks to one of their cameras. Wearing a cap in front, a black cap, a black and blue beard. At this tram stop, this individual, also known to the police,
picks the pockets of an intoxicated man who had fallen asleep there. Good evening. Stand aside. Don't put yourself on the wall if your wallet is in my pocket. On? Yeah, I promise you. Yeah. The man is a migrant who has already been arrested for. This time, the police seem to have arrived in time, but they still find a suspicious object on him. Who has the enc card, it's been a long time. Yeah. A credit card that is not in his name. What is the map? Don't start telling me you found that one on the ground. Sorry if I thought so. You bring the card back there like that.
There is no thief, I am not. Wow, there's no thief. The captain suspects him of having stolen it and used it for personal purposes. They immediately make quick contactless purchases in stores and things like that. Within 3 to 4 hours after the flight. Between that and cell phones, these are the most frequently stolen items. He too will end the night at the station, but ultimately the investigators will not be able to prove that there was indeed a theft.
These men who rob the inhabitants at nightfall are now in the crosshairs of Renault Godel, the public prosecutor of Nant. Well, at that moment, you'll tell me that as soon as the autopsy takes place, I'm pretty sure I'm going to question you about it. Every day, together with his deputies, he works closely with law enforcement to prosecute the perpetrators of crimes and offenses. In the city center, he observes his newly operated criminals and makes the same observation as the police. What we are seeing is that we have a number of individuals in downtown Nantes who come from abroad, some of whom do not show a desire for integration but rather a desire for predation. In this case, it is essentially people who come from North Africa. From what
we know, these are individuals who are already known in their country for committing acts of this nature. These criminals who leave their country to commit numerous crimes in Nantes are a minority. There would only be about sixty of them. But they are enough to cause the crime rate in the city to skyrocket. We went to meet some of them by pretending to be immigrants who had just arrived in France. My brother, I'm going to tell you the truth. I 'm homeless, I have no money, I don't know where to sleep. Can you help me with my work? In Arabic, they will very quickly offer us the opportunity to do business with them.
None of us have papers. We are all undocumented immigrants. We all started out like you. You're going to sell cigarettes, drugs, anything you can, and you'll see, things will work out. Don't worry His three friends are arriving from Algeria. They left their country hoping to make a lot of money in France. Traffic, theft, all day long, they are in the city center looking for a way to make a profit. He arranges to meet us the next day in the suburbs of Nantes with another man specializing in this; this time he proposes that we commit robberies and even burglaries with them; take two screwdrivers with you to enter houses. One for you and
one for your friend. The jewelry, the phones, the PCs, I can resell all of that. What brings you the most money is gold and iPhones. With an iPhone, you can get €300 or €250. What's the best merchandise you're looking for? Gold. And gold, is it good, does it pay? Yes. 2000, 3000. You can even make €4000 per month. Listen, if a cop catches you, always act crazy and give them a fake name. Authorities recorded more than 11,200 burglaries in Loire Atlantique in 2022. Law enforcement officers track these men every day without really being able to stop them because they know the police tactics and know how to outsmart them.
At the police station, Morgan, the head of the BAC Soiré, even saw their numbers increase. No need to burn it. The specific nature of crime in downtown Nantes is really focused on a few streets, uh, on a tram and bus zone. It's a very small space where you'll find a large number of young people. We saw some young people who said they had arrived safely. And then we saw other young people from the Arab Spring arrive and as time went on it accumulated and we regularly see now when we look at the backgrounds of the individuals we arrest that they have been active in other municipalities in Paris, in Marseille and that they are also arriving in Nantes. They think they can do anything and everything. From a
simple assault over a cigarette theft, we will find them stabbing someone just to take their mobile phone. Every night, Morgan and his men try to catch them in the act of being elitist, but his criminals are very cunning. First check at the foot of this building in the city centre. It's a drug dealing spot that Morgan knows well. Hello, how are you? We're into cycling. The police searched the three suspects without much hope, as dealers generally do not keep their merchandise on them. He hid it nearby.
Nothing. No. Well hidden. Morgan will nevertheless find an interesting element. What are those 10 euro bills for? Large sums of money were found on this young man in the red jacket. Where does the money come from? He is a migrant. It's your money. All right. On the other side, there were 50 euro notes and 20 euro notes. Several hundred euros in total. You're with your friend over there. Even more surprisingly, the young man admitted to having been at the police station that very morning. Why were you at the police station? It's for nothing. I didn't understand. You didn't understand? You get out of police custody and you already have all that money on you. When I returned to police custody, they gave me
the money. Gave me the money. Were you given money while in police custody? I'm going to go into police custody too, if it pays off. You don't work, you don't have a place to live, and you walk around with wads of cash in your pockets. Uh, that's it. Ah yes, that's it. Yeah. The young man has no identity papers, but thanks to his mobile phone, Morgan can consult the criminal records file to see if he is listed. And the policeman is in for a double surprise. He is already known twice for robbery with violence and once for drug possession. Not only does the teenager have a troubled past, but he also knows how to cover his tracks. He also seems to be playing with his identity. He will have a
second identity that he will declare depending on who calls him. This allows him to play with two different identities and two different birth dates. That way, this good man is never of legal age. He still retains the identity of a minor. The young man claims to be 17 years old, but Morgan doesn't believe him because most traffickers lie about their age to pass themselves off as minors. What's your name? The family name. It's a trick to avoid being sent back to their country. Paid. In France, that's the law.
A foreigner under the age of 18 in an irregular situation cannot be subject to expulsion. In addition, in the event of arrest and conviction, the sentences provided for minors are halved. For nothing. How can it be for nothing? They were told upon arrival that if they are minors, they are not at much risk. So they take advantage of it. It's a flaw in the system. It is impossible to verify his age and identity without conducting a lengthy administrative investigation.
The police only do this in cases of serious crime. And very often, these investigations do not lead to anything because the countries of origin of these men do not always cooperate. Have a good evening, guys. The young man did not have any narcotics on him. Even though he is in an irregular situation, Morgan must let him leave with his bundles of banknotes. For him and his men, arresting his dealers has become a challenge, especially since most of them are well-versed in French law. He would realize it again a few hours later during a second check in the city center, wearing a red jacket. He doesn't want to see us, I get the impression this young man who is staring at Morgan and
his colleagues seems to want to flee. That is sufficient grounds for inspection. Good evening, police. Control? What's going on? Is everything alright? What, me? You calm down now in his pockets. The police are going to find a rather surprising weapon. I think he's got a razor blade in the thing. Be careful. Yes, but I'm wondering, what do you do with a razor blade? But I travel with cleaning supplies and razor blades in my pockets. A razor blade is not considered a bladed weapon. Therefore, possessing one in public is not prohibited. This young migrant, who is known for burglary, robbery in groups and robbery with violence, certainly feels he has nothing to fear. The thing is, a
weapon by design is considered a weapon only from the moment it is used as such. They know it. You don't walk around with a razor blade in the street, of course. I don't see the point. We're not going to shave at every street corner. He did not commit a crime. The police must let him go. In Nantes, these new delinquents have created a climate of fear. So, the residents are looking for ways to circumvent the system. Some are equipping themselves with non-lethal weapons. Johanna, a young real estate agent, always carries something in her handbag to deter a potential attacker.
I have a taser, does that reassure you? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it's dying. I, finally, have been assaulted several times; I was pushed against a wall as I was leaving a club. So no, my brother bought it for me and that reassures me. When she and her friends go out together, they also make sure not to find themselves isolated. Even with two people, well, two girls now, I find that it's not really, well, it's not really safe, in quotes, and that you now have to walk around in a group. As a girl, you're much more involved than boys, so you never go home alone at night. Be careful. On the front line against these criminals, shopkeepers are also learning self-defense.
Waiter/owner of an establishment. This morning, about ten of them met up in this courtyard bar. I'm going to hang it up. Ah, we had put it there. No. The organizer Guillaume is the security guard who heads the association of angry shopkeepers. So. That will be fine. To train the day's participants, he brought in a former police officer who was an expert in martial arts. Hello everyone. First of all, thank you for being here. Thank you for being here For 4 hours, the former police officer will teach his night shift professionals simple actions that could save their lives in the event of an attack. Right now
, I'm in a tight spot. He's really pissing me off. I come back in with my arm locked and I hold it. All right? He's trying to stab me like that. I can always protect myself. Even if my arm takes a hit, well, it's going to cut me, that's for sure. But I can always stop. Stop, All right. But I never give up. All of them have already faced violent situations upon leaving their school. I took a small hit here with a knife. It tore my pants, not too deep, but I still have a nice little scar. All right. Here, I was pinned against a wall, my ribs were broken, or rather fractured, here. I was hit twice in the bumps which fractured my gearbox.
They hope they will never have to repeat these actions, but nothing is less certain because in the city centre they are assaulted. Guillaume and the shopkeepers of the city center openly accuse Nant's mother. Johanna Roland for not having realized the scale of the problem. Hi Guillaume. It's good and you? He is demanding more municipal police officers and despite their demonstration, nothing is changing. Do you feel like you're not being heard?
I feel like I'm not being listened to, like I'm not taken into consideration. This is, uh, a failure on the part of the city of Nantes to properly maintain its city, quite simply, and to severely punish the people who are responsible for incivility. We always come back to what we are asking for: a larger municipal police force 24/7 and more cameras. That's not possible. The capital of Loire Atlantique was nevertheless elected model city for years. Economic dynamism, quality of life, cultural vitality. The mother and her team have a very positive record, but one point seems to have escaped them: safety. Have they allocated enough resources? Police checkpoint? Nant has only 124 municipal police officers for 325,000 inhabitants. That's
30% less than in Montpellier and 70% less than in Nice, cities of comparable size. The municipality also invested late in CCTV cameras. There are only 162, far fewer than in most cities of similar size. When questioned about her shortcomings following another bloody winter incident, a shooting that left one person injured in a housing estate, Mother Johanna Roland tried to justify herself with a surprising answer. She asserted at the time that the role of municipal police officers was not to prevent a crime. Let me be clear, the municipal police will never be able to prevent a street rape, however terrible, unbearable and
dramatic it may be, because it is not their job. And the municipal police will never be able to prevent a shot being fired with a heavy weapon in the middle of a drug trafficking operation. Today, Johanna Roland regrets her words which she says were taken out of context, but she defends her record. She also pledged to double the number of municipal police officers and promised to install more than 80 additional cameras in the city. I am not one of those who talk and say things, I am one of those who do things on a daily basis. So there would not be this jump from zero cameras to 250 if we had not decided it several years ago. A
security policy isn't something that can be created by snapping your fingers. This battle is a long-term one. The results are encouraging. They have been for several months now. I say this with great caution because, from experience as mayor, I know that these battles are won over time. But I can assure you that my entire team is mobilized on this issue. Faced with the urgency of the situation, the State also deployed 70 CRS officers in the city streets in addition to the regular police force A temporary reinforcement that helped to reduce the number of violent robberies by 29%. But the authorities' fight is far from over. Because Nant is facing another problem that is just as complex. An explosion of violence in the city's troubled neighborhoods.
As in Marseille or Paris, the gangs that control the drug market are starting to settle their scores with Kalashnikovs. They are not migrants and do not commit numerous crimes in the city center, but they have opened points all over their city and they are fighting to defend their territory. Three districts are the focus of law enforcement attention. Beautiful view, Dervalières to the west and Malakov to the east. It is in this city that Morgan, the head of the evening police, is urgently dispatched tonight Several of his colleagues are reportedly experiencing difficulties there. They are requesting reinforcements.
The emergency police colleagues were responding to an incident in a tower block in Malakov and they are trapped inside the tower as they are being bombarded with projectiles. So we're going to secure their exit. We're not going to let them throw stones at our colleagues and then leave as if nothing happened. We're going to show them that they're not the ones who are going to make the rules in the streets. This district, with its 11 towers of 16 stories, is one of the strongholds of drug trafficking in Nantes. His colleagues from the emergency response police intervened there for a domestic dispute. But their presence bothers the drug dealers.
They were quickly targeted. No sooner had they arrived than the BAC officers were met by the traffickers. We are dealing with about ten young people who are in England, Ireland. Morgan knows that the situation could spiral out of control at any moment. Then the policeman takes out his grenade launcher. I'm changing the distance of my ammunition here. As he moves away a little, I take a round that goes further to ensure the shot if I need to fire.
Here, interventions are high risk and Morgan will soon experience this firsthand. As the police officers advance into the city, they are targeted with glass bottles. We go around to the right. Be careful. Second common tactic of dealers who defend their territory. Traffic in Nantes has exploded in recent years. To protect their lucrative business, resellers go so far as to attack law enforcement. Are you or what? We're no longer allowed to sit on the stairs. What dialogue? Tonight, the dealers took refuge in the stairwell. It was impossible for the police to catch them.
It's pointless if we go into the building to look for them, they'll just take refuge in an apartment. So it serves absolutely no purpose. His colleagues from the emergency response police managed to leave the city without incident. Morgan prefers to turn back. Okay, let's get up. According to law enforcement, there are more than thirty drug dealing spots open day and night in all the city's neighborhoods. The phenomenon has become almost out of control. So, the police must wage a relentless war on the traffickers.
This morning, David, the major of the BAC day unit, is carrying out a check in Belle Vue, another city on the outskirts of there. So, deal point, we can go take a look. Let's put Pi there, guys. It's not local. On this drug dealing spot, the young dealers in the neighborhood are used to seeing the police. They no longer run away and are content to keep their distance. So here's a small room that serves no purpose, except for the dealers who, as we can see, use this table to weigh their products. There you go, you can clearly see the small scale with cannabis residue on it. The cashier shouldn't be far away. We'll just take that scale away from them. It will disrupt them for 2 minutes while they find a balance. In fact,
we try to disrupt their operations as much as possible. The major will very quickly find another, slightly more interesting, treasure. Hey, come and see. The soap needs to be checked, but I think it's a cannabis soap. [grunt] Ah, well, I confirm. Cannabis soap with the small Caracas advertising logo. So, as we were saying earlier, there is a person who is in charge of cutting and then uh making small bars to resell to customers. There, there is 100g of resin, uh, uh, on retail sale, uh, €20 for 2-3g. So I'll let you do the math.
More than €600, a significant but routine haul for the police. Twenty years ago, it was an exceptional thing to make a bar of soap weighing almost 100g like that and abandon it on the public road. Today, it's almost part of our daily life. Instead of picking up bars off the ground, throwing them away or abandoning them, we make little sainettes, half-wavers almost every day. David suspects his young men of being the dealers. No one lost a bar of soap by chance, but it was impossible to mistake them.
How are you? You haven't lost a bar of soap, have you? Alright And the policeman's discovery doesn't seem to bother them too much. It doesn't alarm them. A bar of soap represents a loss of €400 and they do n't seem to care. It's also a strategy so that we can leave and tell ourselves that there's nothing to do here. We found our soap, we're happy. You could almost say they're throwing one at us to keep us happy, we go back to the department, we go through a procedure that lasts 2 hours and during that time they're putting their business back in order.
The police officers leave. Traffic resumed almost immediately. Amidst the residents returning home, sales continue. Hundreds of customers come here every day to buy supplies. These young dealers agreed to reveal the inner workings of their business to us. At the entrance to the city, some are there to keep watch. As soon as a police car approaches, they shout to warn the vendors. Over there , over there, over there, there's the B. Oh
It's a bit like a game of cat and mouse with the police. That's it. That's right, sometimes they catch us, sometimes they do n't. That's good, that's fun, we make them run around in a circle, back between two buildings. Others are responsible for selling the merchandise. Next. In their bag were cannabis and hard drugs. What is this? That's a co, that's you. Who's here to buy something? The girls are good and everyone These sellers earn an average of €300 per day selling these narcotics. They all work for a wholesaler who hides his merchandise in the city's basements.
He agreed to show us part of the cannabis stock that these men are expected to sell during the week. It's arb, there's a lot of it there, a large quantity. Well, that's alright, it'll cost us €7000. After what we call a pouch inside, we have pouches of 240, it's 240, only 20 €. I give this to the retailers so that for a detail finishing in not even 1 hour 30 minutes so it brings in a lot of money How many people in a neighborhood like Belgi do you estimate work in this area? Let's not kid ourselves, most of them Nant. The number of consumers has exploded in parallel with population growth.
The traffickers have become more organized and, to meet the demand, they have started recruiting in droves. Zarni, a rapper from the city, has also seen this business grow enormously in recent years. He made songs about it in which he tells the story of these young people from the neighborhood caught in the cycle of easy money and violence. Like in the 2000s, it lights up like a loop, you see the struggle of brass, we tell what we see, what we live and what surrounds us. What are you experiencing?
Misery, misery. He tells the real story, not the "you see, every day he does it for us" stuff. These young dealers are between 16 and 25 years old. Every day they risk prison but they can't manage to quit. In Bellevue, nearly 40% of the population lives below the poverty line. It's a vicious circle, all of this. There's work in Nantes, you go there as a temp, you can find a job and all that. But after me, the problem is, what is it? It's when you're already working that the salary is. it's not crazy. You'll be earning minimum wage. Did you see it or not? After that, it's terrible, it helps a little more with the bonuses, but it's not enough. I want to break it, I want to go on vacation, I want to live, I need money.
For the past few years, it's not just traffic that has exploded in Nant. Violence among drug dealers has also escalated. The city has joined the list of major metropolitan areas affected by gang warfare. In the Bellevue district alone, several dozen shootings have been recorded in the last two years. Some of these young vendors were targeted. That's a picture of my colleague. That was one of the bullets that got caught. I was hanging out with my friends when a car drove by. Whoosh, the window went down. We saw a guy who had stolen something get out. Boom. My colleague took six bullets. I ran, I ran, I heard a scream behind me. It feels
weird, you know. The ball, it passed through his fingers, brother. Two-finger bale, man. And you didn't learn a lesson from that? You have no choice, you take the risks but you also get the pay that comes with them. It's time for that, that's it. A few months ago, in order to stop the drug dealers, the municipality decided to change its strategy. In addition to police checks, she has sealed off passages where traffickers usually operate and blocks. A radical method that should bother them for a while. But will these walls be enough? On the side, at Belle Vue, the young dealers promise that they will resume their trafficking with renewed vigor, a few meters away.
