An investigation was opened Tuesday for "
violence with a weapon
" after fireworks mortar fire in a popular district of the 19th arrondissement of Paris, plagued by drug trafficking, said the prosecution requested by AFP.
To read also: "The Parisians will discover the urban guerrilla": the district of Stalingrad targeted by mortar fire
In the night from Friday to Saturday, "
14 fireworks mortar shots were observed
", then the following night "
23 fireworks mortar shots
" were fired, told AFP the prefecture of Paris police. On videos filmed by residents and posted on Twitter, several fireworks mortars are visible from the ground floor of a building towards the other side of an avenue. "
Since then, increased security in the sector has been implemented with mobile forces on the spot to avoid the reiteration of such facts
", underlined the prefecture. The investigation, entrusted to the 19th arrondissement police station, will identify the perpetrators of the mortar fire and their motivations.
According to two testimonies obtained by the newspaper
Le Parisien
, the shots targeted "
a group of crack users
".
The north-east of the capital, in particular the Place de Stalingrad and its surroundings, is plagued by the crack trade, nicknamed "
the poor man's drug
".
Local residents, overwhelmed by the nuisance, have renamed this place “
Stalincrack
”.
Since 2019, the authorities have been stepping up initiatives to try to stem the consumption of this smokable derivative of cocaine: reinforced police patrols, arrests of traffickers, accommodation of drug addicts ...
Read also: Drug trafficking in Paris and in the inner suburbs: clarified cases jumped by 50% in the first quarter of 2021
The “
Crack Hill
”, a major traffic hub near the ring road at Porte de la Chapelle, was evacuated but consumers turned to other points of sale. Early Tuesday evening, the police headquarters organized an operation in several points of the neighborhood. The staff deployed carried out numerous identity checks on drug addicts.
