France beefs up security on its Caribbean islands to confront cartels

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau announced new anti-drug measures on the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique during a tour of the Caribbean.

"We must pay as much attention to our overseas territories as to mainland France," Retailleau maintained. "The French West Indies, and Martinique in particular, are seriously affected by various forms of trafficking: drug trafficking, of course, because these territories are located on the drug route between producer countries, especially in South America, and consumer countries."

He announced a new gendarmerie squadron and a nautical brigade for Martinique, and a reinforcement of personnel for the Anti-Narcotics Office, among other measures. He did the same on his visit to Guadeloupe, for which he also promised squadrons and brigades, as well as the inauguration of a ballistics laboratory, the installation of two radars and the dispatch of drones.

French Overseas Minister Manuel Valls welcomed the latest reinforcement with "satisfaction," assuring that the measures send a clear message to traffickers: "They are facing a state that never gives in to violence. ... We will not allow violence to disfigure the face of Guadeloupe."

The string of announcements comes after island authorities warned of "abnormal" levels of crime, according to witnesses cited by newspaper Le Monde. They had been calling for months for reinforcements that "correspond to the urgency."

Local officials pointed to arms and drug trafficking, noting that its ports have become a regular transit point for illicit trade from South American countries to the United States and Europe.

The French government's announcement comes shortly after the White House deployed destroyers and other ships to the Caribbean to tackle cartels, specifically targeting Cartel de Los Soles.