Seven people suspected of exploiting unaccompanied minors were arrested on Monday January 13 and placed in police custody, AFP learned from the Paris prosecutor's office.
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These seven arrests were carried out within the framework of an investigation opened in March for trafficking in human beings with a view to committing thefts in an organized gang, trafficking in narcotics and psychotropic products, as well as for provoking minors to use narcotics, the prosecution said.
The investigations are carried out by the SLDII, the sub-directorate for the fight against irregular immigration.
Psychotropics to encourage them to fly
According to a source close to the case, these men are suspected of having exploited unaccompanied minors (UMA) by providing them with psychotropic drugs such as Rivotril (a powerful antiepileptic with the effect of disinhibiting), to then incite them to commit thefts .
Four of them were arrested in the Trocadéro district in Paris and three others in two administrative detention centers.
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The delinquency of unaccompanied foreign minors is the subject of recurrent controversy.
According to a parliamentary report from March 2021 based on the 2,000 to 3,000 unaccompanied minors identified in September 2020 by the Ministry of Justice, 10% of them have fallen into delinquency.
According to the report, 75% are from the Maghreb, mainly Algerians and Moroccans, more marginally Libyans or Ivorians.
Present in Paris, particularly in the 18th arrondissement not far from Montmartre, and a few other large cities, they consume mixtures of medicines and drugs which "
facilitate the commission of delinquent acts
".
These are mainly street thefts, in public transport, sometimes with violence, or break-ins, primarily in pharmacies.
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