FIVE of Paris's most fashionable nightclubs have been ordered to close for
six months following a drugs investigation.

Clubbers and owners claim that the ban, which will leave an estimated 300
people jobless, is a deathknell for Paris's nightlife. All five clubs are
particularly popular with homosexuals. At Queen on the ChampsElysees, a
fiveyearold club whose "dragqueen" evenings have become one of the
essential stops on any tour of Paris by night, the management immediately
claimed unfair persecution.

"It would be hypocritical to claim that there are no drugs in nightclubs
but the law stops us taking effective countermeasures against the
dealers," said a director yesterday.

Under French law, doormen are not allowed to conduct bodysearches but must
call the police if they have reason to suspect a problem.

"It's madness," said Alain Lhuillier, the director of the Scorpion
nightclub in Montmartre. "We've been open for nine years and no drug dealer
has ever been arrested on our premises. We now have to close for six
months, which is a death sentence. Doubtless it's true that there are drugs
around, but there are drugs elsewhere too. Why not close the Metro?"

He added that he had been worried about the increase in the use of drugs
such as Ecstasy for some time, but that the police had not answered his
call for help.

"We even asked the authorities for assistance, but they told us to get
private detectives," he said.

Dominique Jouan, owner of Folies Pigalle, was equally indignant: "I can't
put someone behind each client. And even if it were possible, I don't have
the right to search and arrest them. I have cornered suspects and called
the police, but they were freed the next day and came back to get me."

The closure, which also affects L'Enfer in Montparnasse and Le Cox in the
Marais, was prompted by the testimony of 20 suspected drugdealers, who
named the clubs as prime spots for the buying and selling of Ecstasy and
cocaine.

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.