Behind the choice of the Cité Phocéenne, from which the powerful tentacles of the drug-trafficking “octopus” extend, there is a political symbolism. Friday, Bruno Retailleau and Didier Migaud made their first joint trip to Marseille. They flew in together from Paris that very morning. For several weeks now, their cabinets have been working on a vast plan to combat drug trafficking and organized crime, unveiled in our November 7 issue before being presented at a press conference at the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture.

Bruno Retailleau and Didier Migaud look serious in the building’s gilded salon. They have just met the families of victims of drug trafficking. Among them are the mother and sister of Socayna, a 24-year-old student who was killed by a Kalashnikov bullet while at home. “ His mother was a housekeeper, earning a pittance and…