In Toulouse, the movement of drug dealers causes the closure of a McDonald’s

2023-10-20 05:45:05
The McDonald’s sign, in Toulouse, October 19, 2023. ULRICH LEBEUF / MYOP

Sitting on the terrace of his café-restaurant, Quaiyum (who did not wish to give his name), the owner of Tchin, can’t take it anymore: “They are there all day long. This has been going on for three years, all the merchants in the neighborhood are at their wits’ end. ” ” They “, these are groups of young people, who camp on the sidewalk and sell cigarettes, medicines or narcotics of all kinds. The district is that of Jeanne-d’Arc, in the city center, a stone’s throw from the Capitole or Place Saint-Sernin, tourist hotspots.

At the exit of the metro entrance which overlooks the main boulevards, around ten minors or young adults distill packets of cigarettes from Andorra, doses of “shit” or capsules of pregabalin, a medicine usually prescribed for treat epilepsy and consumed for its disinhibiting and stimulating effects.

The phenomenon has grown so much, often causing fights or chases with the police, that the owner of the local McDonald’s, Michel Réglat, decided to pull the curtain, and announced it loudly at the beginning of October. A rare decision for the fast food chain. “On November 30, we close and the twenty employees will be taken over by other McDonald’s in the city. Jeanne-d’Arc is completely corrupted by drug dealers, we can no longer work”affirms Mr. Réglat, which reports a drop in its turnover of 40% since the installation of these deal points in 2020.

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The owner also says “having suffered heavy losses and damage, during the “yellow vest” demonstrations and then those against the pension reform”. According to him, the installation of traffickers would have a “a fatal blow to the establishment, although it is very well located”.

“Our employees are afraid”

“We found packets of cigarettes and doses of hash under the tables or in the toilets, testifies the McDonald’s manager, who wishes to remain anonymous. Above all, tension has been building for a year, fights follow one another, all our employees are afraid. » The closest neighboring business, Mak Food, one of the oldest kebab shops in the area, has decided to sell, annoyed by the traffic taking place on its terrace.

Alerted by traders, including the ABC cinema located not far away, the municipality said “dealing with the issue for a year, before the buzz created by McDonald’s”. Emilion Esnault, deputy to mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc (ex-Les Républicains) in charge of security, defends “daily interventions by the municipal police, in conjunction with the national police, to dismantle traffic that is still relatively weak”. The chosen one points the finger “the responsibility of the buyers and the State, which does not proceed with the expulsion of these young people, most of whom are subject to an obligation to leave the territory”according to him.

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