On Thursday, April 9, in Avignon, the top brass of the police in Vaucluse and 20 other departments in the Southern defense zone, along with gendarmes, customs officers, and magistrates, gathered to discuss criminal intelligence. This was an initiative by the national police to engage with stakeholders in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Occitanie, and Corsica regions regarding the latest trends in organized crime, which “knows no administrative boundaries,” as emphasized by Emmanuel Desjars de Keranroué, the director of the national police department in the 84th district.
Avignon was not chosen randomly for this meeting, as judicial activity in Vaucluse is particularly high.
“Avignon, with only 90,000 inhabitants, is a hub for drug trafficking,” said the director. “With 8 deaths and 32 injuries from shootings in Vaucluse in 2025, drug trafficking is at the center of attention.”
Money laundering and prostitution are areas of organized crime underpinned by drug trafficking, added Fabrice Cotelle, the zonal director of the judicial police.
“The goal of this seminar is to coordinate our actions with all services (penitentiary, gendarmerie, etc.), have the most precise threat assessment possible, and thus anticipate criminal moves through intelligence gathering.”
Since 2025, Vaucluse has had a specialized group for seizing criminal assets. Due to the increase in cases, especially involving juvenile prostitution, a three-agent “proximity” group has been established since the beginning of 2026.
