By Euronews | Created at 2024-10-07 15:23:23 | Updated at 2024-10-07 18:21:59
4 hours ago
Marseille's public prosecutor stated that the situation in the city of some 860,000 has reached “a whole other level”, expressing his concern that drug-trafficking gangs were recruiting boys at an increasingly young age.
A spate of murders — one involving a 15-year-old burned alive and another committed by a 14-year-old hitman-for-hire — has caused an uproar over the drug war plaguing France's second-biggest city.
Outrage has swept France as it became apparent the two Marseille teenagers were recruited as hitmen over social media by a 23-year-old member of the so-called "New Blacks" gang — detained in a prison located in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence.
The two murders — committed only two days apart — are part of an ongoing war between two rival gangs, known as DZ Mafia and another called the New Blacks.
The rival gangs are embroiled in a turf war over a drug dealing spot located in Marseille's 3rd arrondissement.
The areas north of the seaside city, referred to as "les quartiers nords", have a reputation for being dangerous, repeatedly making national headlines for drug busts and killings.
One was stabbed 50 times, the other one shot a taxi driver
Marseille’s public prosecutor Nicolas Bessone told a press conference on Sunday that once recruited by the inmate, the 15-year-old teen was tasked with setting alight a rival dealer's front door in exchange for a fee of €2,000.
While on his way to do the deed, the 15-year-old was approached by rival gang members, who searched him and found a gun.
In response, the teenager was"stabbed 50 times and taken to the Fonscolombes housing estate, where, according to the results of the autopsy, he was burned alive," Bessone said.
The inmate who had recruited the boy did not end things there, though.
He moved to recruit another teenager, again over social media. This time a 14-year-old, to whom he offered a fee of €50,000 to murder a rival gang member.
The teenager — who was previously known to the police — has been in social care since he was nine. Accepting the job and accompanied by a friend, he ordered a Bolt ride to the Félix Pyat neighbourhood, where his target would be.
Upon arrival at the destination, the teenager asked the 36-year-old taxi driver, identified as Nessim Remdame, to wait in the car for the pair. When Remdame refused, the 14-year-old shot him in the back of the head, killing him on the spot.
Bessone said it was the inmate who called the police to report the boy's location. The boy had fled to hide and admitted to the killing after he was apprehended but claimed it was an accident. The inmate behind the recruitment appeared before a judge on Sunday and was charged in the case.
The public prosecutor has since announced the opening of several investigations into these two cases, looking into “murder in an organised gang” for the 15-year-old burned to death.
For the death of 36-year-old Nessim Ramdane, the investigation will focus on the “criminal conspiracy to commit a crime” and “premeditated murder in an organised gang”.
Boys being targeted over social media
Bessone stated that the situation in the city of some 860,000 has reached “a whole other level”, expressing his concern at the fact that boys were being recruited at such a young age.
Marseille's public prosecutor spoke about the growing violence in the city with Euronews in March, warning of further escalation caused by what he said was “money that flows, corrupts and kills”.
Through ads on social media, such as Snapchat, dealers have been targeting vulnerable youth in search of quick cash.
Drug-related deaths in Marseille reached an all-time high last year, with 49 murders. However, things appeared to have changed for the better when figures revealed that the number of drug-related deaths had been slashed in three for the period of January to September 2024, compared with the previous year.
Yet, this is not a quick fix issue, as French politicians have spent decades battling about how to deal with this situation, while many residents accuse authorities of leaving them behind.
France's drug trafficking market currently rakes in €3 billion a year. A drug dealing spot can generate anywhere between €25 and €90,000 in a single day, while five to 10 drug dealing points are dismantled daily in Marseille alone.
Last year, French authorities seized 7 tonnes of cannabis, €21 million in criminal assets and 107 assault rifles in the region around France’s second-largest city.
