These people are “likely to be linked to the DZ mafia”, a clan of drug traffickers in the Marseille region, according to the Marseille public prosecutor.
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Twenty people, including two women, were indicted as part of an investigation opened in March for drug trafficking and criminal conspiracy, announced Saturday, December 2, Nicolas Bessone, public prosecutor of Marseille.
These 20 people are part of 26 individuals “likely to be linked to the DZ mafia”, a clan of drug traffickers from the Marseille region who are fighting for control of deal points with “Yoda”, a rival clan. They were arrested on Tuesday November 28 in Marseille as part of a police operation carried out by investigators from the Anti-Narcotics Office (OFAST), details the prosecutor’s press release.
Investigations carried out since March have revealed “the operation and organization of a criminal group in the context of drug trafficking operating within the cities of Font-Vert and Les Marronniers as well as on a deal point in the city of La Paternelle”adds the press release. “50 kilos of cannabis resin were also seized, almost a kilo of cocaine” And “cash, 25,000 euros”, specified the Marseille prosecutor, present on Wednesday November 29 with the police forces in the city of Font-Vert where the dragnet took place.
47 deaths linked to drug trafficking in Marseille in 2023
Of the twenty people indicted, including two women, eight were placed under judicial supervision and twelve in pre-trial detention, the press release specifies. A week earlier, on November 20, as part of an investigation into criminal conspiracy and drug trafficking, another raid targeted around twenty people in the Paris and Lyon regions as well as in Aisne. Nine of them were indicted.
Violence linked to drug trafficking and mainly the rivalry between these two clans have caused the death of 47 people since the start of the year in Marseille. Across France, the year 2023 already promises to be a record year with a 57% increase in homicides and attempted homicides linked to drug trafficking, the head of the national police, Frédéric Veaux, revealed on Monday before the Senate commission of inquiry into “drug trafficking in France”.