In Southern France, violence linked to drug trafficking is on the rise, prompting several mayors to impose curfews aimed at keeping children and teenagers—often exploited by drug dealers—off the streets.

Béziers

Several cities in southern France have implemented curfews for minors following a surge in youth violence, particularly incidents involving attacks on police and firefighters with fireworks and pyrotechnics. Authorities attribute this violence to retaliation for recent drug trafficking arrests in poorer neighborhoods, where organized crime groups are increasingly recruiting children and teenagers as dealers and lookouts.

The curfews, introduced in cities such as Nîmes and Carpentras, are seen by police as a necessary measure to keep minors off the streets and prevent further delinquency, although questions remain about their long-term effectiveness. Official figures indicate that 61% of those arrested for drug-related crimes are aged 15 to 25, and approximately 10,000 French minors are currently involved in drug trafficking.

Southern France cities impose curfews to curb youth violence

The remnants of an ambush in Béziers. On Saturday night, some 50 youths launched pyrotechnic shells and fireworks directly at police officers and firefighters. They'd been called in to put out trash bin blazes. One officer was wounded and an apartment went up in flames from a stray pyrotechnic mortar fire. For the public prosecutors, such violence was a response to local police after they made a series of drug trafficking arrests and busts in this rough neighbourhood of Béziers. Increasingly, a climate of fear and violence reigns in certain poorer neighbourhoods in southern cities, but also throughout France. Once limited to larger cities like Marseille, smaller ones, such as Béziers, Nîmes, Avignon and Limoges, have felt an uptick in violence from drug trafficking. And organised crime groups are increasingly hiring children and teens as dealers and lookouts. Sometimes they're as young as 10 years old, like this little boy who's paid to warn dealers that the police have arrived. A number of French cities like Nîmes and Carpentras are rolling out curfews for minors. While not a long-term solution, for many in the police it is a necessary step. It's keeping kids away. For me, a child needs to be with his parents and this avoids a spiralling into delinquency. But do curfews really work to keep French youths from slipping into drug trafficking? Especially now that they're often recruited online and in large numbers. What's changed is the scope of the drug trafficking. It's across the nation and not just in the projects of big cities. According to the French Inter-Ministerial Body Against Drugs and Addiction, 61% of those arrested for drug-related crimes were between the ages of 15 and 25 years old. And the French Interior Ministry said that there are currently some 10,000 French minors involved with drug trafficking in France.

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