French Officials Work to Stem Drug Wars in Marseille
Drug and gang violence in Marseille, France’s second-largest city, has gotten so out of control that one local politician has called for the army to be sent in to restore order.
Marseille is France’s oldest city, and its poorest. A quarter of the population lives below the poverty line, and 18 percent are without jobs. In some parts of the city, youth unemployment is as high as 50 percent. Youth crime is soaring, too.
“Right now in Marseille, it is like Chicago in 1930; gangs, violence, drugs,” said businessman Mohamed Ziani grew up in the Mediterranean port city and has watched it change. At the crossroads of trade, from Italy to the east and Spain to the west, much of the drug traffic in Europe comes through Marseille.
Today, drugs are dealt openly in many of the high-rise housing developments that dot the city. And guns are cheap, raising rivalries to a deadly level. This year, 21 people have been killed in a brutal drug-trade turf war. (via VOA_News)
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