The O.C.R.T.I.S. – The French exception in the fight against the drug traffic | M6 | Zone Interdite

If France defends its “cultural exception”, it could also defend its “policing exception” where the fight against narcotics traffic is concerned. The OCRTIS, the elite of the French “nark” squad is the unavoidable negotiator within the European Union, where harmonisation of legal policy is far from being realised. Created 50 years ago the department co-ordinates men on the ground, mostly working undercover. In the command centre in Nantes there are 80 officers from narcotics, the gendarmerie and customs. Two principal commissioners and a divisional commissioner supervise their activities. For the first time, OCRTIS allows a TV crew to follow its action teams. From the Caribbean to West Africa, via Spain and the Netherlands, this 90-minute documentary shows in particular how all the teams on the ground, whether they are French, Spanish or American, rely essentially on the bonds of trust between the men who have been working continuously for years, with increasingly important results, even if they can only establish that Europe had become the favourite target of drug smugglers.