No safe place in France: Cocaine and cannabis seep into every corner of society Statement by Justice minister

The crime situation in France has significantly worsened in recent years, and there are no longer any safe places in the country.

This warning was issued by the Minister of Justice of the country, Gérald Darmanin, in an interview with the online media outlet Legend, a snippet of which he published on X, Caliber.Az reports.

Il serait bon d’écouter jusqu’au bout mon intervention dans @legendmediafr. J’y explique ma proposition d’utiliser la technologie et la reconnaissance faciale, qui sont les solutions pour lutter drastiquement contre l’insécurité. Malheureusement le parlement s’y est toujours… pic.twitter.com/4E7VabTU5v

— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) May 5, 2025

"There are no longer any safe places. For example, drugs have always existed, but now even in the smallest village people know about cocaine and cannabis—previously, drugs were only in big cities, in the metro. Now, this phenomenon has metastasized and become a general issue for the French. When you walk down the Champs-Élysées, you realise you might encounter thieves or be harmed by the crowd's movements—thieves are everywhere now," said the minister, adding that, overall, there is "more violence" in France.

Fighting these negative trends, according to him, is hindered by the prevailing "paranoia about technologies, civil liberties, and the cataloguing of personal data."

He considers the use of facial recognition technology to be key in the fight against crime. As an example, the minister referenced the experience of Dubai and Singapore, where this technology is already in use at airports.

By Khagan Isayev