Two people died Tuesday in Rennes in a probable settlement of accounts in connection with drug trafficking. Reputed to be a calm city, Rennes is in the grip of a turf war.
It was 10 p.m. Tuesday evening when shots were heard in the Maurepas district, north of Rennes. Two men aged 29 and 34, present on the Place du Gros Chêne, succumbed to these fatal shots from a machine gun. A third is injured. The hypothesis of the settling of accounts against the backdrop of drug trafficking is considered.
“Rennes has unfortunately become violent, it hasn’t been a peaceful city for many years,” said David Lebeau, Brittany regional secretary SGP Police FO Unit.
“Drug trafficking (…) rots the lives of the inhabitants, concedes the PS mayor of Rennes Nathalie Appéré. All the authorities are mobilized to fight against this scourge.”
A daily fight against drugs
Far from the quiet image associated with the city of Rennes, in the district of Maurepas, the inhabitants face a turf war between gangs, for the control of drug trafficking.
In recent months, violent scenes have indeed multiplied. In June last year, police officers patrolling near a deal point in this neighborhood were targeted by a flurry of automatic weapon fire.
In September, a man was killed during a refusal to comply on the ring road during an anti-drug operation. Another police officer was dragged by a vehicle for 40 meters by a man refusing to submit to a check, still within the framework of the fight against drug trafficking. It was last January.
“Today, the police in Rennes almost only work on narcotics, it’s difficult to stem because it’s lucrative,” continues the trade unionist.
Unlimited criminals
“We have never done so much narcotics business in this district, abounds Frédéric Gallet, departmental secretary of the Alliance union. There is a large volume of sales, a large volume in money and that makes people envious.” In Rennes, drug consumption increased by 57% between 2020 and 2021, resales by 62% and trafficking by 41%. Networks supplied in particular thanks to the proximity to the Paris region.
The actions of the police, with the emphasis placed on the fight against drug trafficking, have turned the functioning and organization of these networks upside down. Chiefs are increasingly turning to 11- and 12-year-old teenagers, particularly attracted by easy money – a lookout can earn up to 300 euros a day – and by the “upgrading” image in the trafficker’s neighborhoods drug.
To this ever-growing drug trade is added “a disinhibition” of the offenders, according to the police. “Today there are no more limits, they use shotguns, automatic weapons in the middle of the street, that’s how it’s settled”, laments David Leveau who fears “collateral damage”. The police are particularly demanding “an appropriate criminal response”. “My colleagues challenge the same people every day,” he continues.
