Retailleau Proposes 'Anti‑Trafficking State of Emergency' to Seal Off Drug‑Hit Districts

Overview

• Bruno Retailleau laid out the proposal during a visit to Nanterre’s Pablo Picasso neighborhood, a hotspot of the 2023 unrest that has also seen schoolyard violence linked to dealers.
• He called for round‑the‑clock checkpoints at entrances and exits, more administrative searches, seizures of criminal assets, and the option to cut telecommunications in designated zones.
• The plan would let police lock down between 50 and 60 neighborhoods he says no longer follow the law, with more areas potentially added under set criteria.
• Retailleau said he would seek a constitutional change to make these emergency‑style powers enforceable, casting the package as a core plank of his presidential platform.
• He also outlined a judicial track that includes longer pretrial detention to hit drug profits and tougher penalties for minors with short custodial sentences for early offenses, building on last year’s organized‑crime law he championed.