France

Alsetex is a French company, owned by the Etienne Lacroix Group including various types of non-lethal munitions and crowd control equipment. Products manufactured by Alsetex include tear gas grenades, stun grenades, riot control agents, and a range of related launchers.

Société d'Application des Procédés Lefebvre (SAPL) is a French company that specialises in the manufacture of weapons and equipment for use by law enforcement, including “non-lethal” weapons, ammunitions, aerosols, shields and silencers. They also provide training in the products they manufacture. 60-70% of SAPL’s income comes from the French government, but SAPL also exports to a number of other countries. In 2022, the company reported income of €2.7m.

Cheddite is a French-Italian company with headquarters in Livorno, Italy and Bourg-lès-Valence, France. They are one of the world’s largest manufacturers of empty shot gun shells and primers.

On Monday 8th October, the trial started of six men in France on charges of corruption, fraud or complicity to fraud linked to the so-called “Karachi Affair”. The focus of the trial is on kick-backs allegedly paid as part of two French arms deals in the 1990s: for frigates to Saudi Arabia and submarines to Pakistan.

Subscribe to France

We support war resisters all over the world - to keep doing our work, we need your help.

Click here to support WRI today.