On the banks of the Rhône, summer appears to be following its usual course. Cafés are filling up, people sit in the squares with a coffee, children play in the parks. But in some neighborhoods of Valence a shadow has fallen over everyday life. Behind closed windows neighbors speak more quietly than before, parents check the time more often when their children are out. Violence has arrived – and it is changing a city that for a long time was not regarded as a hotspot of organized crime.
Since March investigators have arrested ten suspected contract killers. A number that makes people sit up and take notice. According to the public prosecutor, it marks the start of a new cycle of violence, fed by bitter power struggles between rival drug networks. Some of the suspects traveled from other regions of France or even from abroad. Their mission: kill, intimidate or exact revenge – as quickly and as cleanly as possible.
To investigators this approach resembles a grim puzzle. The men on the front lines can often be identified. But those pulling the strings in the background usually remain invisible. Encrypted communication channels, shifting contacts and a network of intermediaries frustrate every lead. It is a cat-and-mouse game in which every hard-won step immediately raises new questions.
According to authorities, the arrests prevented further serious acts of violence. Several firearms were seized by the forces. A success, no doubt. Still, no one dares to sound the all-clear prematurely. The worry that others will quickly take the vacant places in the criminal structures appears too great.
How close the violence has come to the lives of uninvolved people was shown by a fire in the Le Plan neighborhood. Fourteen residents were injured, and numerous people rescued themselves from the building at the last minute. Investigators suspect a connection to the local drug trade. Suddenly the conflict between rival groups is no longer the only focus. Suddenly families, elderly people and children are caught in the middle.
That is precisely the real tragedy.
Residents do not want a spectacular police operation or headlines. They long for a quiet evening on the balcony, an undisturbed walk or the assurance that their children come home safely. What seems self-evident elsewhere no longer feels that way here. Who wants to have to keep wondering whether police lights will flash around the next corner?
At the center of the clashes are the so-called Points de Deal – sales points for narcotics that generate high profits. Where a lot of money flows, competition grows. Territory boundaries shift, alliances break down and violence develops its own dynamics. What was previously associated mainly with Marseille is now spreading step by step to other cities. Valence provides a sobering example of that.
The state responded with increased police presence. Special units patrol particularly affected neighborhoods, investigators are targeting the masterminds and the judiciary and police are coordinating their work more closely. Nobody expects miracles overnight. But every prevented attack means a little more security for people who simply want to live their daily lives.
Perhaps the fight against drug trafficking is not decided solely on the streets. It also begins where neighborhoods are given prospects, young people find opportunities and criminal networks lose their influence. Until then Valence remains a city of two faces: here the sunny boulevards, there the quiet feeling that violence could return at any moment. And it is precisely this uncertainty that scares many residents more than any police siren.
An article by M. Legrand
Dix tueurs à gages lourdement armés ont été interpellés à Valence (Drôme). C’est l’annonce choc du procureur de la ville après une série de violences liées au narcotrafic. Lundi 29 juin, encore un incendie criminel a fait 14 blessés dans un immeuble de la commune.Dix tueurs à gages lourdement armés ont été interpellés à Valence (Drôme). C’est l’annonce choc du procureur de la ville après une série de violences liées au narcotrafic. Lundi 29 juin, encore un incendie criminel a fait 14 blessés dans un immeuble de la commune./2026/06/30/6a4415ea36fe1169208960.jpg)