France 24 aired a report on the DZ Mafia and the threats against the mayor of Arles
France 24 ran a story on the DZ Mafia and the threats made against the mayor of the French city of Arles. The report examines whether it is appropriate to describe the DZ Mafia as a French drug cartel, an illegal “brand,” or a “franchise” of the drug trade.
The program’s guest was Yann Biziu, a senior lecturer in private and criminal law at Paul-Valéry University. As France 24 notes, the threats against the mayor of Arles indicate the increasingly brazen behavior of criminal networks that are directly challenging the authorities.
The report also features the perspective of an expert on public drug policy. In his view, the incident should not be reduced to mere violence, as it points to institutional failure.
The expert believes that the DZ Mafia is not just a problem for the police, but a predictable consequence of a prohibitionist model that does nothing to curb the lucrative illegal drug trade.
