Many French cities have imposed night curfews on young people in the middle of violence related to drug trafficking.
The Southern Neem was the latest in implementing measures to prevent “exposed to violence” and “control tensions” from being under the age of 16. Additional police forces will also be sent.
During the last month, several shootings (one in the daytime shooting) were killed and several others were injured.
Last week, the body of a 19-year-old man was found to have been partially burned in the outskirts of Neems.
Mayor Jean Paul Fournier, who announced the night wew, which is in effect between 21:00 and 06:00, said the situation became “unacceptable” and drug traffickers created a “climate of fear and terror.”
Deputy Mayor Richard Sheeben said the curfew would protect minors who are not involved in drug trafficking.
Bezier, 120km (75 miles) to the southwest, introduced a curfew for children under the age of 13 from 11pm to 06:00 last year, expanding to under the 15th generation in certain areas in March last year. “There’s no 10-year-old on the streets at 02:00,” Mayor Robert Menard said in 2024.
Despite the measures, Bezier continues to suffer from violence. Over the weekend, young people covered in balaclava seduced police and attacked them with fireworks, local media reported.
A similar incident occurred in Limoges, southwestern France. The city also imposes a curfew for those under 13 during the summer holidays, but following the violence involving 100 people over the weekend, Mayor Emile Roger Romberty said the outcome of the measure was “not good.”
“We were obstructed by young people, no one could intercept them and arrest them, and the curfew was of no use,” Romberty said.
Two years ago, when a 10-year-old boy was killed by a bullet in the Pissevin area of the city, Neem was furious.
The latest developments confirm the growing trend of drug violence beyond Marseille, the long-standing epicenter of French gang wars.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, 110 people have died in France, and more than 300 were injured in drug-related violence in 2024.
Home Minister Gerrard Dermanin and Justice Minister Bruno Leteriro have long argued for the need to combat the tragedy of the drug trade.
Earlier this year, they piloted the bill through Congress, resulting in two maximum security prisons for drug barons, a new dedicated branch of prosecutors, additional authority for investigators, and special protected positions of informants.
Dalmanin said Tuesday that “the first 17 most dangerous drug traffickers in our country” had been moved to a high-security prison in Vendin Leville, north of France.
The wave of arson and gun attacks in French prisons in the spring was widely pinned to drug gangs who were struggling with government crackdowns.
