Milieu

Primarily, organized crime in France is based in its urban, major cities such as Marseille, Grenoble, Paris, and Lyon.Organized criminals are collectively known as the French Mob and singularly known as les beaux voyous (i.e. "the goodfellas") operating within Le Milieu (French: ; i.e. "the underworld"). From the 1900s to the late 1930s, activities within Le Milieu were primarily prostitution, bookmaking, fencing, and hijacking.Favored criminal activity in France turned to bank robbery, drug trafficking, and smuggling from 1940 to the late 1970s.The 1980s saw a resurgence of large-scale bank robberies and heists.From 1990 to 2000, criminal organizations established complex extortion rings in Marseille extending to Aix-en-Provence and the greater French Riviera.Since 2002, 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.e. smuggling) and counterfeiting.The port of Marseille is a hub for Le Milieu to move large amounts of product into domestic and European markets.Low economic development continues to be the largest factor in youth joining French criminal organizations. The most prominent criminal organization within Le Milieu is the Corsican mafia.Although the mafia has encompassed many criminal groups from the 1960s to the 1980s, modern (1990s–present) criminal activity is managed by the Marseille-based Unione Corse and Northern Corsica-based Gang de la Brise de Mer (i.e. "the sea breeze gang").In 2007, an internal conflict led to the deaths of 102 people on the island of Corsica fracturing the influence of the two larger groups.These two mobs remain powerful as of 2018, often controlling nightclubs, bars, restaurants, apartments, and hotels in Aix-en-Provence, Marseille and the French Riviera.In 2016, it was estimated that France's organized crime net US$23 billon in its underground economy.