Why do I need to know trafiquer ?

Because although this word is similar to the English ‘trafficking’, it has a different emphasis and can be used in unexpected contexts.

What does it mean?

Trafiquer – roughly pronounced trah-fee-kay – is a French -ER verb with multiple meanings. 

The first is the verb form of trafic, which is similar to the English term of ‘to traffic’, used when discussing the movement of something – usually illegal goods, such as drugs, or even people (in the case of human trafficking). 

In French, the verb trafiquer is used less often than the phrase trafic de (followed by the object or goods being trafficked) when discussing the illegal movement of something.

For example, the French press might discuss the trafic de drogue, trafic de femmes or the trafic d’être humains for ‘human trafficking’.

In English ‘drug trafficking’ usually involves a high-level, often cross-border operation, but in French trafic de drogue can also be used for low-level or street dealing of drugs.

You can also see the word trafic in legal contexts, for instance trafic aerien simply refers to airline traffic. 

The second meaning is one that isn’t used in English – it means to alter or doctor something, often in an illegal sense but not exclusively.

For example, if you see a phrase like des vins trafiqués, this may not refer to illegally sold wine but rather wine that has been tampered with or adulterated in some way.

Similarly, you might see people discussing whether or not an image or video has been trafiqué (doctored or altered). 

Use it like this

L’image a été trafiquée. On le voit à l’utilisation de Photoshop. – The image was doctored. You can recognise the use of Photoshop.

Il a trafiqué la programmation de l’appareil. – He tampered with the programming of the device.