Arson attack on the police station

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Police vehicles were set on fire in Cavaillon on Tuesday night, with no injuries reported. An investigation is underway to determine the origin of the incidents, which appear to be linked to reprisals by drug traffickers.

Police vehicles set on fire in the middle of the night

On the night of Tuesday October 8 to Wednesday October 9, several police vehicles were set on fire in front of the Cavaillon police station, in the Vaucluse region, at around 5am. According to a source close to the investigation quoted by BFMTV, no injuries were reported. Local authorities quickly evacuated the police station, where five people were being held in custody. Those involved were transferred to another secure site.
For the time being, the cause of the fire remains undetermined. Emmanuel Desjars de Keranrouë, departmental director of the Vaucluse national police, announced that the Avignon criminal division had been assigned to the case on the instructions of the public prosecutor. Although this information has not yet been confirmed by the Avignon public prosecutor’s office, the director speculated that the drug traffickers had reacted. Indeed, numerous police operations have recently been carried out in the Docteur Ayme housing estate in Cavaillon, resulting in several major seizures.

Alleged reprisals after anti-drug operations

For several weeks, police have been stepping up their operations in this sensitive neighborhood, resulting in the arrest of 25 individuals and the seizure of 15 kilos of cannabis, 6 kilos of cocaine, as well as several weapons and 20,000 euros in cash. “Certainly all this creates animosity towards the police,” said Emmanuel Desjars de Keranrouë. “We’ve hurt them badly and we’ll continue to hurt them badly”, he added, assuring us that activity at the police station had resumed normally by Wednesday morning, despite the destruction of the police vehicles, which had been replaced.
As far as the police unions are concerned, the tension is palpable. William Maury, national night delegate for the Alliance Police Nationale union, reported the fright of the officers present during the incident. “They saw themselves die”, he confided, also denouncing reprisals after the recent ‘place net’ operations in the region.

A growing climate of violence against the police

This latest incident is part of a growing climate of violence against law enforcement officers. “Once again, a police station has been attacked,” reacted the SCSI union of police officers and commissioners on social network X (formerly Twitter). They point out that “France is the only European country where police stations are regularly targeted”.
Tensions had already risen on Monday evening following the arrest of an individual in Cavaillon, followed by two other arrests, including that of the tenant of a cubicle. The police had discovered a substantial arsenal, including three shotguns, a kilogram of cocaine, three kilograms of cannabis resin, as well as various ammunition and magazines. At this stage, however, no formal link has been established between these arrests and the arson attack.
The investigation is continuing in order to shed full light on this attack, which takes place in an already tense context for police forces in France.



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