Organized crime in France is primarily based in major cities like Marseille , Grenoble , Paris , and Lyon. It is often referred to as grand banditisme in France. From the s to the late s, le milieu primarily engaged in prostitution , bookmaking , fencing , and hijacking. Favored criminal activity in France turned to bank robbery , drug trafficking , and smuggling from to the late s.
The s saw a resurgence of large-scale bank robberies and heists. From to , criminal organizations established complex extortion rings in Marseille extending to Aix-en-Provence and the greater French Riviera. Since , Le Milieu is known for, in addition to its extortion rings, large counterfeiting and white-collar crime operations.
Due to increased financial regulation, Le Milieu has collectively pushed to integrate their crime profits into the legal economy. France's geographical location makes it an attractive venue for trafficking i. The port of Marseille is a hub for Le Milieu to move large amounts of product into domestic and European markets. The most prominent criminal organization within Le Milieu is the Corsican mafia milieu corse. Although the mafia has encompassed many criminal groups from the s to the s, modern sβpresent criminal activity is managed by the Marseille-based Unione Corse and Northern Corsicaβbased Gang de la Brise de Mer i.
In , an internal conflict led to the deaths of people on the island of Corsica fracturing the influence of the two larger groups in the island Brise de mer gang and Colonna family.
The term milieu literally means middle or environment and figuratively society or environment , used as shorthand for le milieu criminel criminal environment or le milieu interlope illegal environment.
