2024-11-26 21:00:00
“Faced with the seriousness of the threat posed by the growth of drug trafficking, the current system, despite the efforts made, remains inadequate. » : the Court of Auditors published, Tuesday, November 26, a report devoted to the services involved in the fight against drug trafficking, first and foremost the anti-narcotics office (Ofast) of the national police. And the observation drawn up by the institution of rue Cambon is intended to be mixed. Despite the rise in power of this office, the response to drug trafficking lacks organization and resources.
Unlike its predecessor, the central office for the repression of illicit drug trafficking, which was just one judicial police service among others, Ofast was created in 2020 to become the leader of the fight against drug trafficking. And thus bring some order among the multitude of services involved, between which harmful rivalry has sometimes reigned: customs, gendarmerie, intelligence, prison services, etc.
“All the actors agree on their role”note the rapporteurs. The office also assumes the role of“privileged international interlocutor”in conjunction with foreign services as well as European or international agencies. “The cooperation work carried out both by the agents of the intelligence center and by the group in charge of international cooperation is proving effective”underlines the report.
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To assume these various charges, the office has seen its staff and its budget grow. In 2023, it had 678 agents and a budget of 55 million euros, compared to 318 agents and 36 million euros in 2020. “This operational momentum has resulted in an increase in judicial activity”notes the Court of Auditors. In 2022, Ofast participated in 1,500 legal proceedings, compared to less than 500 in 2020.
Not enough specialized investigators
But this dynamic suffers from certain obstacles. Attached to the national directorate of the judicial police, Ofast does not manage its budget itself, and lacks information on all of its material and human resources, regret the rapporteurs. In terms of organization, the Court of Auditors deplores “real tightness” between the information collected by the fifteen branches and nine detachments of Ofast and its central office. “The central Ofast prioritizes investigations of international scope and leaves the processing of local cases to its territorial network (…) without sharing information (…) is still really formalized. »
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