The Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire confirmed on Tuesday his intention to simplify the freezing of the assets of drug traffickers, via administrative sanctions “complementary” to legal procedures.
We must simplify, speed up and strengthen procedures to hit traffickers more effectively, said the minister during a hearing before the Senate commission of inquiry into the impact of drug trafficking in France. Bruno Le Maire thus pleaded for the creation of an administrative procedure for freezing assets.
If the measure comes into force, serious and consistent evidence will be sufficient to freeze the assets of all drug traffickersto financial managers, asset managers, banks, insurance companies, notaries and real estate agents who dispose of the property of drug traffickers, he assured.
A measure adopted this year by Parliament?
There is the freezing of assets aimed at fighting terrorism, we propose that the freezing of assets aimed at fighting drug traffickers be adopted this year by Parliament, an opportunity already mentioned by the minister during his vows in January.
People suspected of drug trafficking would be identified by the services of Bercy and those of the Minister of the Interior, the judicial authority simply being associated with these designations. This new legal instrument must be considered as a means of additional financial obstruction and not in confrontation with legal action, Bruno Le Maire insisted on Tuesday.
The advantage over judicial confiscation is that it allows us to go faster, save time on the investigation or judicial information and is automatic, he argued.
According to the minister, drug trafficking represents 200,000 active people in France and a turnover of at least 3.5 billion euros.
Drugs are a gangrene for France and the French, which is gaining ground. The only remedy is zero tolerance for consumers and traffickers alike, insisted Bruno Le Maire.
We are no longer facing artisanal networks at all. I saw craftsmanship transform into big banditrydeclared the minister, Bercy since 2017.
The second major development is the endogenization of drug production. It is progressing in its production on European and French soil, continued Bruno Le Maire, ensuring that France was carefully monitoring Spain and the Netherlands.