President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Marseille on Tuesday March 19 for a surprise visit on the fight against drugs. “In Marseille and other cities in France, it is an unprecedented operation that we have launched to put a stop to drug trafficking, ensure republican order, and clear the air”, a- he wrote on
The Head of State joined the Ministers of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti as well as the Secretary of State for the City Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, who had arrived the day before.
Emmanuel Macron’s visit comes as several raids have taken place recently within the two main gangs – “DZ Mafia” and “Yoda” – vying for control of drug trafficking in France’s second city.
49 deaths in 2023
Thirteen young suspected members of the “DZ mafia” were arrested a week ago in Marseille, Rennes and in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence as part of an investigation into attempted murder in Spain. Ten of them were indicted on Saturday, according to the Marseille prosecutor’s office. These arrests came just a few days after the arrest in Morocco of Félix Bingui, 33, alias “the cat”, the alleged leader of the “Yoda” clan, rival of the “DZ mafia” in Marseille.
The turf war for control of juicy deal points has bloodied Marseille like never before in 2023, with 49 people killed in narchomicides, including four collateral victims.
“My roadmap today is clear: drugs, drugs, more drugs,” Pierre-Edouard Colliex, new prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône, declared at the beginning of March on the occasion of one of these “square net” operations carried out almost daily by the police in the cities of Marseille. Again on Monday, one of these operations took place in the city of La Castellane, one of the largest in Marseille, which has several deal points.
Marseille magistrates sounded the alarm at the beginning of March in the face of the power of drug trafficking.
“We are losing the war against traffickers in Marseille,” worried Isabelle Fort, head of the “organized crime” department of the Marseille public prosecutor’s office, before the Senate commission of inquiry dedicated to the fight against drug trafficking. drugs in France.
