The French services responsible for combatting drug trafficking have confiscated nearly 45 tonnes of cocaine so far in 2024, almost double the amount seized in 2023, the new Director General of the French National Police (DGPN) said on Wednesday.
In the first ten months of the year, 44.8 tonnes of cocaine were seized, compared with 23.2 tonnes for the whole of 2023, Louis Laugier told the French Senate.
Seizures of ‘new drugs’ were "also up sharply" compared with 2023, he added, citing in particular a "33% increase in amphetamines and meta-amphetamines."
However, in the first half of 2024, Laugier noted a drop in the number of victims of violent score settlings, with 43 deaths recorded, down from 72 over the same period in 2023. He went on to say that "80 to 90% of the score settlings are linked to trafficking."
French police arrested "more than 18,100 traffickers in 2023" and "17,300 already in the first ten months of 2024," Laugier added.
By 10 September 2024, more than 16,100 operations to dismantle drug-trafficking points had been carried out by the national police, he disclosed.
