(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-18 20:40

Paris -- Paris has become an illegal drug distribution center with trafficking becoming more and more rampant in the French capital, local daily Le Figaro reported Friday.

Every month, about one in ten young people in Paris use cannabis, police were quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Drug traffickers and dealers are well-organized in various Paris districts and suburbs, which have become a major source of drugs for other parts of the country, the daily said.

Michel Gaudin, Paris police chief last year launched a vigorous campaign against drug trafficking in the city, mobilizing all kinds of police units.

After three months of "sweeping," some 250 drug traffickers have been questioned in Paris while 480 kg of cannabis, 120 kg of cocaine and 14 kg of heroin has been seized.

According to statistics, nearly 5,000 drug traffickers and about 4,500 drug users have been arrested from January 2006 to June 2007.