The French Minister of Justice, Gérald Darmanin, expressed his dissatisfaction with the measures being taken to combat illegal drug trafficking.
According to "European Truth," Darmanin's statement was reported by Le Figaro.
As Darmanin stated, there are issues within his ministry regarding drug-related matters.
"We need to reassess everything and implement what we have already done concerning terrorism. About ten years ago, we changed our paradigm by creating many more intelligence agencies," he noted.
Over the past two weeks, Darmanin, who previously led the Ministry of the Interior, has delivered a series of speeches, trips, and statements on this topic.
A few days ago, he announced his intention to "isolate in prison the 100 largest drug traffickers" out of the 17,000 individuals currently incarcerated for drug trafficking in France.
The Minister of Justice stated that he has "requested a list" of these inmates.
The implementation of this system, inspired by the model used for certain terrorist prisoners, will begin "in the coming weeks," he said.
"The mistake of French prisons is that they mix all inmates together. Some of them are dangerous, continue to trade drugs, and commit murders. They need to be isolated much more effectively," Darmanin pointed out.
Additionally, he highlighted that another challenge in combating drug-related crimes is the overcrowding of French prisons.
The minister also mentioned the difficulty of dealing with mobile phones in prisons—over 40,000 were seized in 2024.
"We need another 500 million euros to install jamming devices in all prisons... Currently, France is failing in this regard," he indicated.
To hit drug traffickers where it hurts, the Minister of Justice wants to focus on "confiscation and seizure."
"Drug trafficking in France amounts to between 3 to 6 billion euros a year. We seize one billion and confiscate just under 400 million," he said.
Recall that in the spring of last year, then-Minister of the Interior Darmanin announced the start of anti-drug raids, aimed at demonstrating the seriousness of the then-government's intentions to combat drug trafficking in cities.
Reports indicated the arrest of 1738 individuals during these raids.