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A few metro stops from the Champs-Élysées, about a hundred meters as the crow flies from the Sacré Cœur Church, the Gutte d'Or district in Barbè, renowned for being the kingdom of the parallel economy. Counterfeit money, counterfeit perfume, pickpocketing as we say here. Barb, you can find everything, you can't find anything except your father and mother. There's even a veritable open-air drug supermarket there, right before your eyes. There's heroism, cheating, and crackpotism in everything here. It would even seem that the police have given up. No, here, we smoke in front of the police. We don't give a damn. Right in the heart of this unique neighborhood Square Léon.
Last February, the mayor of the 18th arrondissement, Daniel Vaillant, decided to close it during nighttime hours. And at 11:30 pm, we will close the square like the other Parisian squares 11:30 pm, which is still a great deal of freedom. When he came to announce it to the public at a public meeting, he had no idea that his decision would provoke a real riot. It's a mess today. How could the closure of a simple square have degenerated in this way? And who are its vandals? We are a few weeks before the packs arrive. Michel Narneuf has lived here for over 30 years. This Arabic language teacher, who is
very involved in community organizations, is now the deputy mayor in charge of housing. Watch out for the cameras here, people don't really like having them filmed. Especially since there can sometimes be small-scale trafficking and things like that. And so I no longer know anyone whose camera has been broken. Like everyone in Barbesse, he is convinced that the rehabilitation of the neighborhood, which began 25 years ago, is a necessity to improve the quality of life and drive out an undesirable population.
There is a building there that was destroyed, the 40 RA, in which at one time every night the ground floor and the courtyard were invaded by crack smokers. So, is that all the problem solved now? No, the problem of crack cocaine or drug trafficking, I mean, is not necessarily solved by it is a national and international problem but at least in these places this type of place can no longer exist from the moment the unsanitary housing on which it could cling disappears. Meanwhile, the town hall of the 18th arrondissement of Paris has a much more urgent problem to solve. The Squarléon, the main drug trafficking hub in the district.
It's open 24 hours a day. Yes. Well, the municipality of the 18th arrondissement, after much hesitation, decided to close it from 11:30 pm until 7 am. because there is, there is, there is also, first of all, the police do not know how to intervene inside and they do not want to intervene inside and they have taken refuge, quite a bit of trafficking inside and therefore degradation and the Square Leon, rehabilitated at a cost of millions of euros just 4 years ago, has become the headquarters of drug traffickers. There is no shortage of hiding places here to escape the constant surveillance of the police Ah, if I can't find it.
He only has to bend down to pick up some hash. This sometimes leads to scenes that are almost like something out of a comedy sketch. I see. Oh no, it's not there, I put it up there. No, he's not here. He's here. Ah yeah, the solution will be there for you in the coming days. Ah, I don't think there's a solution. There you go We're in deep [__]. We're going to stay in the [__]. We wanted to find out more about the drug trafficking and those who use Square Leon as a drug dealing location. To do this, we entrusted a camera to a resident of the neighborhood. We'll call him Nono. This repentant former robber was kind enough to
help us with our investigation. It's 6pm, Rumira, not far from Square Leon. Here, groups of young people aged 13 to 25 offer hashish, crack, cocaine and other narcotics. They are playing cat and mouse with the police patrols that are constantly crisscrossing the neighborhood. Meeting with Karim, 18 years old, a dealer from the square, an acquaintance of Nono. What do you want? Hey Mo, are you filming me? No, no, don't worry, don't worry. What do you want? No, how many horsepower do you have? Yeah, it depends.
He has €20, right? €20? Yeah, €10 you want? Yeah. No, it's fine. But why is he filming like that? Do n't worry, don't worry. It's not like the police are coming up, is it? Ah yeah, yeah. From the police station down here. As soon as hearts begin to tighten, everyone is warned. From afar, from afar, a little bit of telephone. Traffic is regularly interrupted. So, you see this is the neighborhood, but there you saw on the block you see there are the CF and all there are the cis never yeah I don't have here never to control you huh never the artists wanted something
no you saw as soon as they come it's because they see a transaction you see that's the thing they come they see the transaction and they come they grab you directly but it's their sound there they circle you saw they come To avoid being caught red-handed, Karim does his deals in the Squir Léon, the hub of business in the neighborhood. In the dim light, these transactions are more difficult for the police to detect. Another favorite dealing spot for dealers in the area is the courtyards of buildings located near the Squir Leon. So, where are we now? crack oven.
Can you show us what you're selling? But I don't think it's peanuts either, because there are pieces at 30, pieces at 20, pieces at 10, and if we want to screw over the competition, we even make pieces at 5. At €5? Yeah. OK. Because we were able to see the drug addicts there. And you're the one selling it to people out there on the street? Uh yeah, I'm the one reselling it. That's my equipment that's circulating in the neighborhood. OK. But how long have you been doing this? No, it's been 10 years. 10 years?
Yeah. And you have pasta shells that are in prison because of that? Ah, there are many. Half the neighborhood in jail for that. It's important to know that the crack in the neighborhood is the resource. That's what people sell the most, that's what. That's what's circulating most in the neighborhood. That is to say, there's more trouble than anything else, but you can find everything in the neighborhood. Put on your hood. Come, I'll show you my little soldiers, my little kids, the future. These are the real warriors.
Like most of the low-level drug dealers in Barbess. Karim on the left, our young Squir dealer Leon is protected by one of the big shots in the neighborhood who offers him protection in exchange for small services and sometimes a percentage of his sales. It's been a long time. How long have you been seeing cracks? Frankly, I sold them to everyone. In other words, at what age? From 13 to 18 years old. At 13 years old. Have you been to prison before? Yes, that's my little Brave, he's going from crack to 25 years old. [laughs] She's not finished yet. She's lying to you, isn't she?
Uh, he still has 5 years left. She still has 5 years left on the field, right? And as soon as he finishes 5 years in the field there, he'll be able to tell the Ra and everything. As long as he hasn't finished his 5 years, he's always here with me. But why don't you leave the neighborhood? You can try to move out of your neighborhood, do internships, training courses. I don't know why, B bar is like a magnet, you can't move. What? B bar the barber's quarter. Barb, okay? It's like a magnet, you can't leave the neighborhood. That's how it is. Uh, it's "Go ahead". You know what, cousin? We shouldn't
stay here too long. Did you see? Because it's hot in here. Honestly, just from that point on, you stayed too long. Go ahead, come on, open the bottom. Come open Karim still has 5 years to go before he can break free from his godfather. Obeying elders is one of the unwritten rules of drug trafficking in Barbess. Drug addicts, on the other hand, consume with complete impunity. But stop yelling, sometimes it stops us. Go ahead Here's my brother. No, here we smoke in front of the police, we don't give a damn Ah, there's smoke, there's smoke in front of the normal CFS. Hanani, that's how you Arabs say it hanani we're filming in front of the police. You see there, that's a joint, that's me. I'm
smoking and then, oh, police. Oh, I'm hiding it. No but why are we allowed to smoke in front of the police? It's not illegal in France, not because they don't give a damn. You have to watch, they're leaving. There you go, they saw me smoking with my foot in the rearview mirror. You see a guy smoking in his hand, they don't say anything in Paris, only Barb is it legal, we have the right to drive in the street. After seeing these images filmed by Nono, we wanted to know why he wasn't intervening. Here we are with one of the neighborhood police night patrols. 24 hours a day, he roams the streets of the neighborhood. Do you know all these small groups of young people? Yes, yes, yes.
Finally, in the group I saw, there were three that I knew for sure. Yes, they're the people who are always there. It's the young people from the neighborhood who are making their way. You see, there are 5 or 6 of them outside by the door. It's likely that some of them are preparing to sell something, or even all of them. Otherwise, it takes place inside the market halls. There are lookouts a little further up in the streets. So yes, as soon as we approach, we are reported. And generally, they don't carry on them what they are about to sell. They have them in small hiding places nearby.
They are more or less calm. Well, that's what they're there for. They spend the whole night there, right? So, uh, if we were. Yes. If we stop the car in front of them, yeah, that's really going to bother them as they pass. So yes, it deters them at the moment we pass by, not on the fact of not working. They will continue, they will. It's not you who are interested in, it's the blatant display of the bed, is that it? Yes, might as well. Yeah. The police are not fooled; they know the area and its petty criminals perfectly well. They are not interested in arresting a small consumer. What he's looking for are wholesalers.
A few streets away, we find Karim, our dealer from Squir Leon. As it happens, that evening, Karim had an appointment at his wholesaler's. At least twice a week, Karim comes to buy cannabis. He has a meeting with his supplier this evening. 100g of cannabis from Morocco. And apparently, Karim is satisfied. That's really good quality. You see, thanks to Nono, we can witness the transaction. Patrick, his middleman, no longer sells on the street. Too risky. She got it there. He prefers to sell large quantities to his acquaintances.
I only give them in blister packs. Only by the plate. 100g blister pack. I buy the kilo in 2008, I sell it to him for 350. I take 70-80 € per slab. That's €700-800 per kg. Karim will repay as soon as he has sold his first few bars. That's why you see I got so worked up earlier. I heated it up nicely. Not for nothing, my friend. You see, those are €30. How long have you been doing this? Since I dropped out of school, my friend.
4th grade, I stopped school at 14 or 15 years old. At first, I didn't know how to do anything. I asked him how we do it. Then he showed me once and it's good, you see. We learned quickly. Better than school. All of this costs €30. You see, that's already €90. That's what it says. It's true that, without even realizing it, you have €530, so that makes €150 for you. You can get the squir going in a quarter of an hour, it's gone in a flash, but for someone who does n't work, you're selling that every day, right? You just sell that, so you stay 10 minutes at the squir, that makes €150. You do that 10 times, and at the end of the 10 days, that makes €1500. That's €1500 x 3, so you're making
around €4000-€4500 at the end of the month. It makes you want to work more. You're only in the business because it's easy money so uh you can afford to reinvest your money in things, whether it's stolen goods that are brought to you or going on vacation or sending the money back home. But in any case, it turns the path b as soon as there are the cufs, a weird guy, we flee, we leave no trace and that's it. What's the terrain like here? What's it like? But what about the g? She's right now that things are blowing up, they let him go, who Jetle, I don't know, Jetle, yeah, he let him go, what did he do? He did 48 hours, yeah, things are blowing up right now.
Karim, the hardened dealer, isn't alone tonight coming to do his shopping at his supplier's. There's also Alli, not really a dealer, more like a king of resourcefulness, always on the lookout for a good deal, like this €50 counterfeit sold at half price, €25. You see, you can put them on the. so these are counterfeit bills, bought outside the neighborhood. These counterfeit bills are presit, Barbess crooks who pass them on to the many tourists in Montmartre right next door. From here, we can clearly see that it's totally contagious, that resourcefulness is representative of the majority of petty criminals in Barbess, counterfeit money, cannabis. Ali also sells motorcycle spare parts for resale, but he also has
more legal activities to have a fixed income. He works as a delivery driver in one of the Chinese restaurants in the neighborhood Yeah, there's no such thing as salads, doughnuts, you know. Either you have the samosas or else take the spring rolls, take the spring rolls directly they're hot. Did you see? He would like to find a more serious job but he stopped his studies at 15. So he's content with this job. And finish me off thanks to the traffic. I only work in the evenings before I was interested in moving but now there is no work or I don't know what. Not the staff, and go ahead, you see, I think he was just around the corner, he was looking for a delivery man. I introduced myself,
I set the hours, it's 19 to, I take €700 per month and I work, and I only work on Mondays and I don't work on Thursdays. Are you square? No, no, not the cars like that, it's money, you look at me, they go to my family, all that, brother of little brothers, ah, both are still in school, you see, I don't want them to do like me, you see, I stopped, I didn't get a diploma, so you see, I don't want them to end up like me, they're going to work, they're going to school. Go ahead. This job is his way of resisting easy money. Unlike his friend Karim, Ali is not deeply involved in the drug trade. He gives his family the money he earns honestly and keeps the money from trafficking for himself.
Money, you see, it's clean money, you see that we have money. Helar, you see, it's money that you can give at home, you see, without worry. You see, for us, we say, yeah, money from outside brings bad luck and all that, so you see, the money that I give like this, you see, I'll get it for you, I give it to my parents. That's it Yeah, you gave that money to the family, you see. And for them it's important to know that you have a job like that? I don't know, I prefer that I work, that I do something else, that I have problems, you know, by doing things here and there, I can say problems with the police, you
know, the justice system and all that. So it is 4:30 pm near the Squir Léon, the Squir of the dealers, the nursery school on rue Saint-Luc opens its doors. Here, as everywhere, children want to be police officers. Do you like the neighborhood? Of course. Why do you like the neighborhood? Well, because we can already do whatever we want. Anything. There are too many stares. Is there too much of what? Drug. Too many drug addicts. [laughs] Aren't you afraid to go to Romira?
No, I'm serving at the mosque over there. Ah, you go to the mosque and it doesn't bother you that there are drug addicts next to the mosque? Yes, it bothered me one day in my building, he had two daughters, she was laughing. My mom saw them snorting drugs. Sniffing drugs with his nose. With his nose? It's a small one, let's see. What do you want to do later? Do you want to become a police officer? Are you crazy? Why are you doing this? For what? Because as soon as there are thieves passing by, everyone says, "Me, me, I want that
glitter." It's possible, it's possible your best friend is a thief. You're going to go and arrest him, so that means I'm a doctor. I would be a doctor. You're going to be a doctor. As usual, Diaba picks up her two children. Arfan, 3 years old, and Mari, 8 years old. Daba, a mother of three, arrived in Goutte d'Or a year and a half ago. We wanted to know why she had chosen to settle in the neighborhood despite its reputation. So, he only has three mistakes.
Three mistakes, nothing more. Yeah, it's fine. Next time, you'll get a zero, like I said, zero mistakes. I learned that I had a proposal, I was so happy. But when I learned that it was, I looked at the map a bit and saw that, La Goutte d'Or, I thought, "Oh dear, I was a little apprehensive. Give me your hand. Well. I heard that it was a rather rough neighborhood, so to speak. But anyway, that's it, I heard, so I don't know. Afterwards, you see the violence, the delinquency Uh, not at the moment. For the city hall, Dienaba is a blessing. It's on this new middle class that the public authorities are counting to change the image of the neighborhood. If Dienaba came to
settle here with her husband and three children, it's thanks to the price and also the size of her new home. So before, I lived in a small apartment of about 30 square meters, and now it's about 86 square meters with the balcony It's true that with three children, you needed at least. Yes, It's [laughs] your children, you were so happy, well, we were so happy. You give that, understand? Stop, at least you have your room here, right? Yes, and me, I didn't have my own room, I slept in the living room.
Underneath there was a bed, there was a bed under a window, and then I slept on that. As long as her children are little, Dienaba avoids the area around Squir Léon, the drug dealers' squir. But she knows it will be more difficult when they grow up. Squir Léon is the main meeting place for teenagers in the neighborhood. That's what I'm planning. I'm planning, yes, not to let my children hang around outside, you know. But well, you know, you ca n't predict the future, you don't know. So I hope I'll be able to manage, you know. I hope we'll be able to manage with my husband, you know. In any case, we're going to put everything in action.
We're going to go where they told us, you know, where the construction is, all that. Yeah. Several times a day, the neighborhood officers patrol the streets in groups of three. If we look up a bit because we're getting stuff. We're getting things, and it's not bouquets of flowers. At the sight of the police, these young people seemed to cross the street and become wary. As if by chance, he goes into the first open building lobby, which intrigues the team. Hello, of course. These are young people from the neighborhood known to the police. Who's here? As long as it's milk. Surprise! No drugs, just a simple bottle of milk left by a resident of the building and no evidence of a drug deal.
The police don't bother to search the group of young people. We more or less know the individuals in the neighborhood. So, well, I've been here for quite a while. We observe their behavior and then we start to Knowing the faces is also important because we know more or less where they live. So it's simpler. And apparently, there's no particular problem. There's one I recognized in the group. Well, it was these two friends. There you go, they'll go and do whatever they want at home. Yeah. Actually, arrests are rare in the neighborhood. The main mission of the police is to reassure the residents. There's no problem in the neighborhood? Pretty much the same as usual. As usual, while they're here, we're being evicted.
It's true, there are a lot of people who come and break in. Well, the other day they were here, I asked her to leave and it's like, "What's going on?" They're smoking, they're vandalizing things. She closes the door, or yes, she closes it, but when they push it in quickly, okay. They kick the door, she doesn't say anything. Okay, it's been a while, but anyway, I'm not scared. I assure you, I'm not scared. You shouldn't be either; if you start like that, that's when it gets worse. You have to talk to him. Okay, very well. We wish you a good day. Thank you, don't hesitate. Okay. Between police patrols, life resumes its course, and very quickly the same images return.
Here, people come mainly for the magic rock, the crack cocaine. A crack smoker consumes on average 3 to 4 cocaines a day at €30 a dose. That day, Nono was filming. Smoking in broad daylight in the Rumira. Yeah, because the Réa is the only place. And why are we here in the Rumi? Because it's the only place where we find our cocaine right away. You want to struggle for 3 hours to find a ball, and this is the only place where we can go out on the street because the girls know and we're less at risk every day. Days in the neighborhood, the girls know that everyone in the neighborhood knows, so they're used to it, you see?
We do that a little further up, in the bourgeois areas, we get busted right away, you see, that's the difference between the arrondissement and all the other girls in Paris. So, yeah, it's forbidden, yes, but here it's, let's say, tolerated, but there are still kids who walk by Yes, but when the kids walk by, we hide, we still have some respect, you see. We have kids too. Yeah. And the CF (presumably a local term for a drug addict), it's normal. Yeah. But they know what? You're a former drug addict from the neighborhood. And how long have you been in the neighborhood? 30 years.
What did you go through? The heroin. When was the heroin? What year? In '80. And until how long ago? Until now. And how do you make your money? Well, I mean, People, they trust me, and now I've got stuff for myself, you know? Oh, so you buy things for people and you make a little something on top. That's it. You take a commission. There you go. But where do you live? Where do you sleep? It's me. You have children, and they know that you. Yeah.
This is Noël, 80 years old, an old-timer from the neighborhood. Everyone here knows her. Hello, ma'am, what do you think of the neighborhood? What do you think of the neighborhood? What do I think of the neighborhood? Yes. Well, I think it's changed a lot already. For one thing, they buy drugs and everything. Yes. In the street. Yeah, they smoke all the. You know that? I knew very well. So, I'll tell you, I've known that for a very long time. Are you alright?
Oh, are you alright? I'm alright, I'm fine. See you later. See you soon Yes, late. But before it was heroin, now it's. Crack. It's completely different, huh? Anyway, it's not like it used to be. Back with Karim, the dealer from Square Léon. He's already sold €200 worth of cannabis. Easy money burns a hole in your pocket. It's quickly reinvested in another racket. This is the kingdom of all kinds of trafficking. How much do you have? No, you do n't have any good shoes, there's only one pair left. What size? Jewelry, phone, clothes. Here everything is for sale and everything is for sale.
Counterfeit, fallen off the back of a truck, these Soviet-style dealers are often undocumented immigrants. What is it how much are you doing for this one, bro? Huh? 25, 25 if you take two, keep them cold, 30 otherwise, go ahead, here, I'll take two, I'll take two already, you'll take two, yeah, go ahead, where did you get them? €50 for two bottles Perfume is a quarter of Karim's earnings for the evening in Barbess. Easy money is spent as quickly as it's earned. Do you often sell perfumes? Yeah, yeah, it's good, but that's all I do, you see, to earn a little money. You see, yeah, I'm walking around a bit to see if there are people looking for perfumes and stuff, you see, yeah, or what? It's a closed perfume,
still charging for perfume, still free, yeah, of course, free, €30 for the perfume. And oh yeah, that's expensive, my brother. For you, go ahead, I'll give you two for €50, my friend. For me, you're a real man, 20, 42, huh? It comes straight from Haiti, counterfeit. No, this one doesn't come from Haiti, but it's not far. Counterfeit from Magasinop, guys. Oh yeah, it's the ambulance. Okay guys, later, go ahead, hot stuff. Go ahead, later. And everyone Take advantage of this parallel market. Barb's is located just below the Montmartre hill.
Pickpocketing tourists is a real business, and to resell their loot, we know where to find the pickpockets. Jamel is one of them. He specializes in reselling electronic products. Like Ali, he has an honest job and his little schemes on the side. Something I snagged, a Pixel camera. €80, my friend. Oh, that's expensive. €80, my brother. €80. Final price. Final price 60. 50, that's good. 60. 60, there you go. 60. I don't know anything about good quality. How much will I sell it for? If you do it at 50, I can sell it for 60.
I'm selling it for €10. 50, that's good. You don't have the charger, huh? No, you don't bring back stuff like today, do you? No, that's all there is here. Thank you, my friend. OK, go ahead, my friend. You Do you buy things often? Oh yeah, every day. But I don't know, not every day, but I know these guys. He often brings back stuff and all that. Yeah, not every day, but R Jamal, besides being a street vendor and undocumented, arrived in Barbès nine years ago.
I created a place where life was good, but here it's not good. You work, you live off business, both are risky. You work, you're taking a risk, you do business, and it's risky. It's the same for both Before it was good, but now no matter who takes you, they won't take you. They 're scared because you don't have papers to work. They're a little scared. And aren't you scared, precisely because you're right there in the window, that someone, that girls, might show up? Oh yeah, I'm scared. But you can, there's nothing you can do. It means we work, we take the risk. That's why I'm dressed normally. It means if he shows up, I do n't work here. I just give him a call, I only came in for a drink. That's why we don't take the.
the thing to work the news. I told them before I even came here, they told me to go to Barbès International. They told me to go to Barbès, you'll find everything. I came to Barbès, I stayed here. And you found everything? I found everything. Here, you find everything, you look for anything except your father and mother, but you ask for anything, you'll find it. There's everything. Barbès has nearly 25,000 inhabitants of diverse origins, but the vast majority are Muslim. Drugs, trafficking of all kinds, and the crime that has plagued the neighborhood for decades are contrary to the religious principles of the majority of
residents. On Fridays, the day of the main prayer for Muslims, the neighborhood changes its appearance and the faithful. They converge on the two mosques. The one on Mira Street being too small, some crowd to get a spot. The street is requisitioned as a place of prayer. Meanwhile, most of the drug dealing stops. The young people not attending prayer clean the area around the mosque. The drug addicts looking for their fix are chased away. Come on, come on, come on, come on. Don't stay here. Go on, move forward, move forward there. Go on, move forward. And luckily, then, move forward, rare images. Nobody here likes to be filmed. Even Nono, our protector in the neighborhood, will take several
weeks to manage to get these testimonies. What are you guys doing here? Keep an eye out for drug addicts and all that because sometimes there are some, they come, they come to hang out here, they disturb the people who are praying and all that, we don't let drug addicts come here, today is the day of prayer, we can't let that happen, go on, we tell them to clear out, all that, our friends are over there They're also keeping an eye on things, they're posted higher up. Well, the young faithful from the neighborhood aren't the only ones enforcing the truce on all trafficking. The small-time dealers from the area less than 50 meters from the place of prayer are also lending a hand. Here, it's the Friday anti-drug operation,
but in their own way. Yeah, you guys are hanging out there, yeah, yeah, he has a question, guys. Yeah, one day is today, it's Friday at the mosque. Yeah, yeah, don't going to check it out. I saw some friends chasing you junkies. Yeah, you sell on Friday, but no, we're not going. We'll wait an hour, two hours. We'll do it. Ah, you're waiting until 2 PM, yeah. We're not doing that right now, if you want. Don't smoke my head. Not even your head. Do you pray or not? Well, no. Why? I don't know. I tell myself it's pointless to pray and then do stupid things afterwards, you know. Some Fridays It's more than a thousand believers attending the prayer, in all kinds of weather.
Foreigners are easily spotted, and most of them are consumers. It's always Nono, our protector, who's filming. What are you doing? He's in for a surprise. We're taking a walk. You think this is a street for walking See, search. Pancake, huh? Pancake. Some pancake. What did you want? It depends on what's there. €30? Yeah. OK. I don't sell, you see? Well, I can imagine with your camera. [laughs] I'd like some too.
Put your camera down, please. Work. I 'm a civil servant. I work at the Ministry of the Interior. Are you serious Yes. What do you do for a living? I work in a court. I'm in charge of a department. To say that you work at the Ministry of the Interior and you're filming crack, that's normal. You don't give a damn. Oh, wait, let me explain something to you. You see there, I don't know if you see over there, it's mosque day. You see? Yeah, I imagine. You see? So, you come on a day to get your fix or on a day, hey, it's a day of prayer. So, I'd advise you to do something nice, which is to come back a little later because you haven't found anything for me yet. I have to stop.
But that day, despite the truce for prayer, an incident occurs. A female police officer has just been attacked by some young people. The neighborhood is instantly cordoned off by police patrols. Quickly, two or four young people suspected of having participated in the attack are arrested, one of them at the Squir Leon, the drug dealers' Squir right above the prayer area. Nono follows from a distance with his camera. The officers search for the other two, and the situation escalates. Quickly. There's a woman, my colleague, a young man from here, from the neighborhood. He put his right hand on her and ran off. That's not good.
Stop, stop saying he's threatening you. He's not even threatening you. It's just an altercation that doesn't sit well with the residents of the neighborhood But how come, sir? It's the truth, the police said, "Sah, speak? I'm angry because you're all children, you're trying to get me. Once again, on this day of prayer, Square Léon has returned to the heart of the scandal. A few days later, the decision is made: the square must close. Daniel Vaillant, the mayor, will announce it at a public meeting, and this afternoon, he came to see if everything was ready and to sound out the residents one last time. How are you
Yeah, very well. Yes, it's fine. Hello, sir. How are you? Yeah, it's fine. And you? Well, it's fine. There you go. You've had the Goutte d'Or for over 30 years. That's good. Well, me too. There you go. You did. Wait for me, it was in '75, I came down from. I crossed Barbès in '75, came to settle here in the area, that's 33 years. 34 years. You see, I'm even older than you. Oh yes, yes, you're young, you [laughs] and you like it here, it's nice when the weather's good.
It's nice weather, but now it's a little cold sometimes. But at night, well, it's not so good, at night, at night it's cold, it's cold at night. So I'm closing, but we're going to close at 11:30 pm. I agree, closing at 11 pm, that's fine at all. At 11 pm we go to bed when we're tired, right? Okay, that's fine, we agree. And so that the gardeners can be Respected in their work, making plans and all that, they're desperate because it's been ripped away . They're talking to me about the tables that were. well, yes, broken at the beginning, the beautiful tables are broken. It's unfortunate, really.
It's clear that a vast majority of people in the neighborhood think my decision is normal, fair, and expected, and at 11:30 PM we'll close the square like other Parisian neighborhoods, which is still a great freedom. So, I know that this poses problems for those who don't accept this decision, not for reasons of principle or freedom, but for business reasons. And I want to tell you, the parallel economy, the underground economy, the economy linked to drug trafficking, I ca n't condone it, I want to fight it. Not because I was Minister of the Interior, even if that counts, but as a father, as a citizen, as mayor of the 18th arrondissement, I fight drug trafficking, I would say, and in particular At night here, on an evening when
drugs have no business being used. So, tonight is the famous public meeting to announce the closure of the squir at night. It's 10 PM, time to leave the meeting. About thirty young people have come to express their discontent. This squir is their place, it's also their business, and they don't intend to let it go This meeting was organized by the Paris City Hall to explain the implications of this decision, and Daniel Vaillant, former Minister of the Interior and Mayor of the 18th arrondissement, came to defend the project.
Believe me, gentlemen, both of them- not you, sir, but both of them- believe me, we're not going to help them by giving in to this kind of pressure and demands. Helping them also means taking them by the hand to get back on the right track. Excuse me, I'm saying this like a father because they're going to go home. They're going to come back, they're going to come back, there will be problems for nothing. Yeah, 10 years ago, 10 years ago the night was closed. People are done, we broke the rules. We broke the rules today. It's going to be the same thing, that's all. Honestly, I swear, I'm very angry, I'm very angry.
Ah, I don't want to see outside. Tension rises and we find Karim the dealer, of course, on the front line. What's going on here? Yeah, it's war, bro. You see, they want to close the score? Ah, it's a mess today. It's a mess. The neighborhood is immediately cordoned off. The young people improvise Molotov cocktails. The riot police have arrived to control the situation. Come on, don't move, don't move, don't move. You son of a [__], grandmother, son of a [__], son of a [__], in order to.
the guys. Go up to the 3rd floor tomorrow, stop, and get your revenge tomorrow, you son of a Your revenge, you [__] of a [__], yeah, you The police are approaching, The incidents lasted less than an hour. That evening, no young people were arrested. In order to calm things down, the town hall waited 15 days after the riots before implementing its decision. It is 11:30 PM. The squir's grey eyes are closed. Inside, 3 m dogs that will stay until dawn. Police officers are patrolling the area to deter any potential curfew violators.
There is a very strong municipal police presence at closing time, with patrols throughout the night as we are doing tonight. So for now yes, it's accepted, there's no going back. We'll wait and see when the good weather returns. But hey, if it stays like this, that's great. We could see from the reactions that followed the decision to close that it must have bothered some people that it was closing. TN1 and TN82 of TV advertising where I announce a very good performance in terms of scoring. Back with Karim, the hardened drug dealer.
Since the closure of the Squir, its traffic has become even more complicated. Now that they are no longer protected by the dimness of the square, consumers are wary and come to the area less often. Some evenings, Karim doesn't sell anything at all. It's a real hassle. No idiots. The customers are the ones who are the "bolos," and yet for once Karim has more than enough to satisfy his regulars. Frankly, nowadays everything has heroism, cheating, and cracking in everything. After an hour's wait and no less than two police checks, the first customer finally arrives in the store, not the carrot in the b, it's crack he came to get.
He's already been ripped off several times and remains tense. Calm down, cousin. What's wrong with you Calm down. Hey, are you bringing me the CFS or what? No, it's not a carrot. How much do you have there? Ah, I have 50. Next time it's 60, okay? Hey, where do you think you are? Hey, you're lowering the bar here? Are you sick or something? Hey, that's not a carrot. It's not a carrot, don't worry. Put that in your pocket. How many are there? 50. Yeah. Put that in your mouth. Put this in your Times are tough for drug traffickers. Karim is forced to slash prices to retain his customers.
For drug dealers too, it's a crisis. Well, did you see? I just made some galettes for 50 bolos, you know. So, how much do you sell the galettes for €30 but when they want it for two, I'll give you €50, we slash prices. And things are not going to get better. Another 20 minutes of waiting before the arrival of a second customer. He's not a regular; this time it's Karim who's tense. France 2 is here. No, no, no, don't worry, don't worry Yeah, right Wait. How can I tell what it is? Are you guys trying to make fun of me How do I do it? How can I believe you?
Come on, hurry up, don't rip me off, don't rip me off, my brother, you're live, what are you telling me? It's live, how do I know it's real? You're taking your time like that, where do you think you are Hey guys, I'm not sure if you have a CF, you have a place on you or what, nothing at all, come on, let's go get some money then. And where do they make the money? Well, there is n't a distributor here. I didn't want to get ripped off. There is n't a distributor, but you're weird, my brother. And you see me here? You and I are right here.
I'm just here, man. OK, I'm with you. So, are you coming with me? Come. Do you think I'm a cop or something? What are you doing? Wait, come with me. Do you think I can make it? I arrived here 5 years ago. I'm telling you the truth and you want to tell me about it. Go [__] yourself. Go Karim. decides to go home. Tonight, nothing wants to leave. It's obvious at La Soette. You saw that, it's a free-for-all, and everyone's out for themselves. Did you see? You see, those are the little ones, those are the little cockroaches that come here. That's it, that's
the youth arriving here. He's the little brother. Did you see? And how would you feel if you saw your little brother selling? Honestly, I'm hitting him because I don't want him to have said it, you see, I don't think it's right. I already do that. I don't want my little brother to end up like me, you know? That's how to show them the right path. Why wouldn't you want him to make easy and quick money? Because when you make easy money, you know what shit's coming. Did you see? You know the [__]. Come here, my sauce. Yeah, you know the [__]. You've only had bad luck. It's bad
luck that's taking over everything, the whole surface. Bad luck takes over completely as soon as you make dirty money. It's good. In addition to closing Squir Leon after 11:30 p.m., the municipality has decided to strengthen its surveillance system by placing cameras around the public place. Karim, hardened drug dealer at the age of 18 and convinced that it will change nothing, writes about it in texts that tell of his daily life, that of the low-level drug dealers in Barbess. We're as grey as the ass of a fuspl originally from Algeria. I translate TV, nothing to prove, just my music for everyone to mull over. His equipment is the African Cup. The seismograph, the device that records me. I'm bringing back
my rap like a bomb, my dietetics. Everything I experience, well, I sing about it, you see. That allows me to live [grunt] to feel alive in relation to others, everything. So, I'm telling you about the mistakes I made so that the kids wo n't make them later because when you need money, there's little one and when you go to an internship where they don't recruit you or afterwards you go to hang out or in the square afterwards that's where you focus on dealing drugs or burglary or whatever because it's them it all starts with them so that afterwards you do whatever you want, you ruin your life. If I told you tomorrow there was €200,000 in a safe, would you give up rap to go and do it or not? I'm definitely going
. That's for sure. Yeah, I'm giving up, I'm even letting him drown in the ocean.
