Vast crackdown in the Marseille narco-banditry scene after a double homicide in Spain

Last week, 13 people were arrested. They are suspected of being affiliated with the Marseille criminal organization DZ Mafia.

For investigators, this is a new episode in the gang war in Marseille. The Marseille public prosecutor announced on Friday January 19 the arrest of 13 individuals, all suspected of being involved in a double “narchomicide”, on May 3, 2023 in the city of Salou, in Spain. This group of five men and eight women were arrested last week and must be presented to a judge on Friday, alongside a fourteenth person arrested in Spain several months ago.

That day, two French nationals, well known to the police and justice services for drug trafficking in the Marseille area, were murdered in the tourist town of Salou, victims of assault rifle fire from Kalashnikov type, specifies the prosecutor’s press release.

An escort girl gave the green light

According to this same source, this double homicide is a new settling of scores between Yoda and DZ Mafia, two rival camps, two groups at the origin of around forty homicides committed in France last year. According to a source close to the investigation, on the day of their death, the two victims, close to the leaders of the Yoda group, one of whom is the brother-in-law of a man nicknamed “the cat” and suspected of being the leader of the Yoda group, are in Catalonia accompanied by three escort girls. It is one of them who will give the green light to the commando, suspected of belonging to the DZ Mafia group.

At the helm: four men already well known to the justice system, some of them suspected of being involved in other settling of scores. One of them was arrested just after the shooting by the Spanish police, when the three others managed to flee and return to France helped by several young women from their entourage.

The operation was carried out by “youth“criminals: the vast majority are in fact under 30 years old, but”determined“, said a source close to the investigation. In one of the vehicles, the police found a war arsenal: two pistols, two grenades and a Kalashnikov.

In 2023, 70% of “narchomicides” or attempted gang homicides organized in Marseille were linked to this dispute between DZ Mafia and Yoda, with a “very strong peak” in August, the prosecutor indicated on franceinfo on December 22.