On the night of October 3 to 4, 2024 in Marseille, a VTC driver, Nessim Ramdane, was shot in the head by a 14-year-old hitman. The deceased, a 36-year-old father from Var who had no connection with drug trafficking, whose funeral took place this Tuesday in Marseille, was a collateral victim of the war of traffickers in the Marseille city.
This murder was allegedly ordered from his prison by an inmate claiming to be part of the DZ Mafia (Dzaïror the diminutive of Algeria in Arabic), one of the gangs which wants control over drug trafficking in the Marseille city.
An authenticated video
On social networks, a video which, according to our sources, was authenticated by the police, features a formal denial of the mafia organization. We see around ten hooded, unidentifiable men and a “spokesperson”. The latter rejects the responsibility of the DZ Mafia in this crime.
“This has nothing to do with our methods: we have enough men and vehicles and means to act. We hope that the truth will be restored. Signed, the DZ Mafia”, entend-on.
The DZ Mafia: a cartel present in Hyères and Toulon
On February 27, 2024, the prefect of Var issued an order prohibiting the arrival of all individuals known for drug trafficking in Bouches-du-Rhône, in order to stem the intrusion of the DZ Mafia on the Hyérois market, and more particularly in the Val des Rougières district.
This ban on driving or parking without legitimate reason was canceled by the Toulon administrative court.
This “octopus”, originating from the northern districts of Marseille, known for drug trafficking, murders, settling scores, kidnappings and “contracts” aimed at eliminating competition (the Yodas and The Blacks) is expanding like a multinational crime company, with branches in Toulon, Hyères, Nîmes, Sète, Avignon, Valence, Rennes and Toulouse depending on France Info.
The DZ Mafia drug cartel cohabited for a time with the Yoda gang (created in 2020, during the Covid period) before engaging in a murderous war against the Yoga and the Blacks.
According to the Marseille prosecutor’s office, on 47 “narchomicides” recorded in 2023, “34 are attributable to DZ Mafia and 24 to Yoda.
At the head of the “DZ”, we find the founder Mehdi Abdelatif Laribi, known as “the Tic” who left Bouches-du-Rhône and is wanted. His Yoda rival, Félix Bingui, aka “the Cat” was arrested on March 8, 2024 in Morocco while he had taken refuge in Morocco.
In the fight against the “Blacks” gang
During a press conference held on October 6, 2024, after the murder of the VTC driver, the public prosecutor confirmed the existence of a vendetta opposing the DZ Mafia to the Black clan of the Félix city -Pyant, in one of the poorest neighborhoods of the Marseille city (3rd arrondissement).
The conflict concerns the takeover of the deal point, in the town of Moulin-de-Mai.
The Blacks have been operating on the ground since the 2000s and are also in conflict in a turf war over the deal market with the “Gypsies”.
According to 20 Minutes, the Blacks, from the city of Lauriers (13th arrondissement of Marseille), around thirty settling of scores are attributed to them with the clan of the neighboring cities of Cèdres.
Nicolas Bessone declared that “the vast majority of score-settling, narchomicides, suffered by the Marseille metropolitan area in 2024, are directly or indirectly linked to this conflict“.
