Ban cash: French minister coins novel idea to battle drug crime

AFP | Paris

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As France battles the scourge of drugs crime in its streets, a top minister has raised eyebrows by evoking stopping the use of cash entirely to discourage narcotics deals.

“How do we stop drugs from spreading in our neighbourhoods?” Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, a former interior minister and one of the most high-profile cabinet members, asked in a hearing with the upper house Senate on Thursday.

“There is a fairly simple measure -- the end of liquid cash would prevent the creation of points for drug dealing,” he added.

Unlike in some other European countries, notably Nordic nations, cash remains a relatively essential part of daily life in France, with bakeries and cafes often setting a minimum payment before a card can be used.

In an interview with RTL on Friday, Darmanin, who has expressed interest in standing in 2027 presidential elections, took care to clarify his comments while stopping short of disowning them.

He said cash drug deals are worth “between four and six billion euros” in France each year, of which only “a few million euros” are seized by the authorities.

Cash, he added, “is what enables a large part of the functioning of organised crime, prostitution, and human trafficking.”

But saying he was “realistic,” Darmanin added that stopping cash was “one of the responses but not the only one” to fighting drug crime, which has become an increasingly important political issue in France.

“It’s a public debate that should undoubtedly be had in a presidential campaign, for example,” he said.