The Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, affirmed on Friday his “determination” to “win” the “war” against drug trafficking following the death of a 15-year-old adolescent in Nantes, in a shooting “evidently linked to drug traffic.”
“We are leading this war with determination and we will not back down. Yes, the fight is complicated, but we will not lose this war,” emphasized the minister, from the site of the shooting that occurred on Thursday evening, where he arrived late in the morning.
According to Laurent Nuñez, the toll of the tragedy in the working-class neighborhood of Port-Boyer, north of Nantes, stands at one deceased teenager and two others seriously injured.
The two hospitalized injured individuals, boys aged 13 and 14, are “now out of danger,” indicated the public prosecutor of Nantes, Antoine Leroy.
A psychological support unit from the emergency medical service (Samu) was set up in the neighborhood, as reported by AFP.
On Thursday, around 7:30 pm, two “hooded” individuals arrived and opened fire “somewhat blindly” on a group of young adolescents in this neighborhood abounding with tower blocks built in the midst of greenery by a river, as reminded by the minister.
If the motives of the shooting at this drug dealing point are “very likely linked” to drug trafficking, Laurent Nuñez emphasized that nothing indicated that the targeted adolescents “and a fortiori” the deceased one were linked to the drug trade.
This drug dealing point is “highly coveted,” with the police having arrested five individuals in March, and “when we destabilize territories, we create territorial wars,” explained the minister, drawing a parallel with recent events in Nice and near Lyon.
– “Great Fear” –
“There are tragedies that occur, but we must continue to destabilize, dismantle networks. What happened yesterday reinforces our determination to continue this ceaseless fight against drug trafficking,” he declared, after having exchanged with residents and the Mayor of Nantes, Johanna Rolland.
Laurent Nuñez mentioned the opening of an anti-drug office (Ofast) outpost in Nantes and, more broadly, the reinforcement of investigative capabilities against organized crime with an additional 300 investigators in 2026, as well as measures targeting drug consumers such as raising the flat-rate fine from 200 to 500 euros.
Friday, bullet holes were still visible in the entrance door of the building where the shootings took place, and a police truck remained parked in front.
A resident of the building described to AFP, anonymously, how she found one of the adolescents shot “no longer breathing,” saying she thought about him “all night long.”
A neighbor “is considering leaving the neighborhood where she grew up.” Her 10-year-old son confided that he is “very scared” and no longer wants to sleep anywhere but by his mother’s side since the first gunshots heard in the neighborhood several weeks ago.
The drug trade has been “slowly but surely establishing itself,” attested Cécile to AFP, a sixty-year-old who has lived on Rue de Pornichet “since 1995.”
“For a few years and especially in recent months, it’s clear that it’s dangerous (…) it’s really scary for everyone,” she added, noting different people lately, “older ones, hooded, all in black.”
For the socialist Mayor of Nantes, who spoke with the deceased adolescent’s mother and offered her “utmost support,” “when a 15-year-old loses their life, it’s unbearable for a city.”
The drug market turnover in France was estimated at 6.8 billion euros in 2023, three times more than in 2010, according to the interministerial mission to combat drugs and addictive behaviors (Mildeca).
