“It is a narchomicide”confirmed the public prosecutor of France’s second city, Nicolas Bessone, stressing that the victim was “well known for drug violations”.
Police officers went to the scene after hearing several gunshots, a police source told AFP. When they arrived, they found the deceased victim in his car, hit by several 9 mm bullets, in the Carmes district, not far from the Vieux Port, in the 2nd arrondissement of the city.
This would be the sixth “narchomicide” of the year in the Marseille city, according to an AFP count, a figure much lower than the 24 people killed last year at the same time, linked to drug trafficking which is plaguing the city. .
The previous narchomicide dates back to June 12, with the death of a 35-year-old man already known for drug trafficking, shot dead in an impoverished housing estate in the east of the city.
49 homicides in 2023
Marseille had experienced a bloody year in 2023 with 49 homicides linked to the war for control of drug sales outlets, but since November the pace of these assassinations has slowed considerably.
To counter this trafficking, the government launched “XXL square net” operations in mid-March throughout France and particularly in Marseille and Bouches-du-Rhône, with the reinforcement of numerous police officers. They were intended to “put a stop to drug trafficking”indicated President Emmanuel Macron, who traveled for the occasion to the Marseille city of Castellane.
Several police and judicial sources also believe that these settling of scores are drying up due to the lack of “new hands” within rival gangs, mainly those of the “Yoda” and “DZ Mafia” clans, several members of which have been killed or are now behind bars.
