Several people working in French ministerial offices and the wider state administration have been removed from their positions after testing positive for drugs, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has confirmed.
The revelation comes after Lecornu ordered an unprecedented campaign of surprise and mandatory saliva tests among ministerial staff, senior civil servants and officials with access to sensitive information.
“There have been positive tests, and people have been removed from their positions,” Lecornu said, without giving a precise number or identifying those involved.
“Members of ministerial cabinets and most senior officials have access to extremely sensitive information. To use drugs is to be vulnerable. And we cannot condemn the murders of 16-year-olds in the ‘neighborhoods’ and tolerate, at the same time, consumption in the ‘beautiful neighborhoods’,” the prime minister said in an interview with Paris Match, published on July 22.
“These controls will continue. The tests are random. And I have no doubt that my successors may go even further,” he added.
The Prime Minister had ordered the testing campaign in June as part of the government’s fight against drug trafficking and to strengthen what he called the state’s duty of “exemplarity”.
The tests were carried out among members of ministerial cabinets, certain senior officials and people holding sensitive positions, including in the defence and security sectors.
The government has refused to publish the results, citing medical confidentiality and the privacy of those tested.
“We are not a tribunal,” a source close to Lecornu said when the government announced that it would not disclose the number of positive tests or the identities of those concerned.
Lecornu’s announcement confirms that the campaign produced disciplinary consequences, after reports suggested that several hundred tests had been carried out and that people who tested positive could lose their positions.
The Prime Minister said the policy was intended to protect the state from the security risks associated with drug use among officials with access to sensitive information.
The campaign has nevertheless attracted criticism, with opponents questioning the legal basis for mandatory testing and the government’s decision to keep the results secret.
The French government has made the fight against drug trafficking a political priority as the country faces rising concern over organised crime and the spread of drug networks.
On Tuesday, authorities moved LR Mayor Christophe Rivenq to police protection after credible intelligence suggested an imminent attack by DZ Mafia, a prominent drug gang.
Earlier, several advisors and at least one senior official in the government were removed from their office after being involved with narcotics, triggering the tests.