His name is still unknown to the general public. But Marseille magistrates and police officers know Félix Bingui perfectly, who should be extradited this Wednesday, January 22 from Morocco to France. This 34-year-old man is the alleged leader of the “Yoda” clan which, in recent years, has engaged in a terrible murderous war against its great rival, the “DZ mafia” gang.
Arrested on March 8, 2024 in Casablanca on an arrest warrant from a Marseille judge, Félix Bingui should therefore be able to be tried in France. “This person is currently presumed innocent. But his extradition is a real success which shows the capacity of the police and the justice system to act, including against people who have left the territory. indicates to The Cross Olivier Leurent, president of the Marseille judicial court.
Upon his arrival in France, Félix Bingui should be placed in pre-trial detention and join the impressive cohort of people now incarcerated for drug trafficking. Tuesday January 21, the Marseille prosecutor, Nicolas Bessone, told the press that in 2024, more than 2,000 people have been indicted, including 833 placed in pre-trial detention.
These figures give the measure of the challenge which now awaits the Marseille justice system. “With drug trafficking, we are faced with both mass litigation and cases of great complexity sometimes requiring lengthy investigations,” underlines Olivier Leurent, estimating that local magistrates are faced with a real “criminal tsunami”.
A “judicial SOS” to have additional resources
In 2022 and 2023, the court received reinforcements from around twenty magistrates. “This allowed us to create three new instruction offices. From now on, we have 27 firms, 11 of which work solely on drug trafficking,” explains Olivier Leurent, specifying that these reinforcements made it possible to reduce “consequent way” the stock of offenses tried in correctional courts.
But the most serious cases, in particular the settling of scores, must be judged before the Assize Court of Aix-en-Provence, “already asphyxiated” faced with the proliferation of drug-related cases. This is the observation made on January 13 by Franck Rastoul, the Attorney General, who launched a “Judicial SOS” to request additional resources. “If no action is taken, 2026 will be the year of criminal overwhelm”he warned, mentioning the risk of “no longer able to judge cases with detained defendants within legal time limits”.
-A challenge for children's judges
Another major challenge concerns children's judges today faced with numerous adolescents involved in score-settling. “If the minor was aged 16 to 18 at the time of the facts, he will be tried before a juvenile court. But if he was under 16 years old, he will go before a children's court made up of a single magistrate and two non-professional assessors, most often educators or people specializing in children. explains Olivier Leurent. “The mission of children's judges is to punish delinquency but also and above all to protect children in danger. There, they will be confronted with young people recruited on social networks as hired killers. This is unheard of for them. »
Could some magistrates be reluctant to work on drug trafficking? The question inevitably arises in Marseille where, in December, the director and an agent of the Baumettes prison had to be removed from their duties after receiving death threats. “Given the importance of criminal networks, the risks of harm to the physical integrity of judicial actors fighting against drug banditry must no longer be considered virtual,” had alerted Olivier Leurent in March 2024 before the Senate. “But despite this somewhat particular context, we have no shortage of volunteers to work on these files,” assures the president of the Marseille court.
——-
Drug trafficking in 2024
Homicides down. In 2023, 49 deaths were recorded in Marseille, largely linked to the war between the “Yoda” and “DZ Mafia” clans. In 2024, 24 people were killed in the department, including a VTC driver shot dead by a teenager barely 14 years old. This drop in the number of homicides is mainly due to the end of the conflict between the two rival gangs.
Arrests on the rise.“In 2024, we arrested 3,400 individuals linked to drug trafficking in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, this is 40% more than in 2023”indicated, Tuesday January 21, Pierre-Édouard Colliex, prefect of police of Bouches-du-Rhône. “4,000 tonnes of bulky items were removed to undermine deal points in the cities concerned”, he added.
