REPORTING. Toulouse: diving into the heart of a point of deal
For a month, drug trafficking has resumed in the quiet city of Bourbaki, north of Toulouse. We were able to penetrate the point of deal. Story.
A rabbit, several buildings and the message “Welcome Bourbaki”. Under one of the porches on rue du Général Chanzy, a graffiti several meters long has been dressing one of the gray walls since this Saturday evening. It indicates the point of deal. “It’s a childish drawing so as not to shock the inhabitants,” says one of the traffickers. Faced with this tag, the lookout, responsible for warning of the arrival of the police by shouting, is busy every day, from noon to midnight on weekdays and until two o’clock on weekends. For more than five months, the parallel economy no longer existed in the city of Bourbaki, after a handful of arrests. For a month, they have been investing in new places. “It’s our way of getting out of it. In life, we do not all have the same chances “, slips the” chouf “(lookout, Editor’s note).
The city’s business in the hands of a Marseille gang
Every day, young drug traffickers welcome dozens of clients. The lookout directs them, “even if they know where to go” according to him. A doorman searches them before the seller comes to them. A manager carefully monitors the account sheet to ensure that there are no “holes”, losses.
The pay varies depending on the role, the “charcoal” (seller, editor’s note) pockets more than 150 euros. The manager, condemned several times, did not wish to communicate the turnover of his company. “We’re doing well despite the daily presence of the police,” he smiles before relighting his joint and taking a puff. In this district in the north of Toulouse which has not always been quiet, the traffickers claim to “be discreet”. “We don’t want to disturb the inhabitants. We are courteous to everyone, ”says the manager, laconic. Under the porch, families pass and iron daily. Some residents greet them politely. Others cross, looking down, ignoring the traffic that is going on below their homes. And he is jealously guarded. According to the dealers, the business of the city would be held “by Marseillais who permanently protect their point of deal” and who “are not choirboys”.
