He was dragged for around thirty meters: in Béziers, a man was crushed to death by his accomplices at a deal point

Life has resumed its course at the scene where the tragedy took place this Wednesday evening. JPA – Midi Libre

This Wednesday evening, May 29, a man aged around 20 died, rue Jean-Franco, in the La Devèze district of Béziers. He was probably crushed by his accomplices who fled. Two of them have already been arrested. They are in police custody at the DTPJ in Montpellier.

This Wednesday evening, May 29, a man died after being crushed by his accomplices, rue Jean-Franco, La Devèze district, in Béziers. It seems, according to sources close to the investigation, that these individuals had come from Vaucluse to do battle in Béziers. In fact, they arrived in a car that had been stolen in Roquebrun two days ago.

The victim got out of the car in front of the deal point, with a long Scorpion-type weapon (a submachine gun, Editor's note). She was immediately attacked by "the dealers on the stairs", that’s what we would call the deal point, rue Jean-Franco. Immediately, the four individuals who had remained in the car accelerated and ran over their colleague.

Two people still wanted

The victim was reportedly dragged for around thirty meters before the driver stopped. "There, according to a witness, he saw a leg protruding from the vehicle. Everyone, panicked, then fled on foot, in multiple directions."Two men, aged 20 and 28, were arrested by the Bac de Béziers police officers, who were the first to intervene. One was running and the second was hitchhiking. On the instructions of another witness, a bulletproof vest, gloves and a balaclava were found not far from the scene of the tragedy, hidden in a bush. Two people are still very actively sought. At the request of the Béziers public prosecutor, the investigation was entrusted to the DTPJ police officers in Montpellier. The two suspects were transferred to their premises and the victim was taken to the Montpellier forensic institute.

Life as if nothing had happened…

This Thursday morning, market day, life had returned to normal on rue Jean-Franco. Some residents explained, not very reassured: "We are afraid that one day, a kid will take a stray bullet. It's late in the evening and the children are playing there. The settling of scores between dealers scares us." A little further on, Fatima is angry: "Network operations are good. But the deal points are still there. They move around a little, but they stay in place. More police officers are needed here. Nothing more. If we wait until a tragedy happens to react, it will be too late. There was already a young person who died in the same place last year. This has to stop."

Messaoud, for his part, estimates: "Trafficking in big cities is difficult and small neighborhoods like ours arouse the desire of big dealers. We must cut off the heads and not just stop the little hands. Here they are calm. This is not the case elsewhere and they will arm themselves to defend themselves and it will then be very dangerous to live in La Devèze."

More means to fight against trafficking on a daily basis

Fabrice Aebi, local representative of the FO Police union also insists: "This is the daily life of police officers. We must give more resources to the anti-narcotics brigades. We need more men. The fight against trafficking is an everyday job. We cannot be satisfied with one-off operations, even if they are very effective. We need men on the ground to prevent tragedies and violence from settling into the neighborhoods."