Inside Marseille’s deadly drug wars: Why are youths killing youths?

“It was a night of horror,” explained Laetitia Linon, staring at her nephew’s grave in Marseille’s largest cemetery. The 14-year-old was killed outside a housing estate in the city's impoverished 'Quartiers Nord'. He was shot five times with a Kalashnikov. “A little boy can die here under a hail of bullets, like in Mexico, a cartel country,“ Linon added.

Some parents are resorting to unusual means in a bid to protect their children. “They bring charges against their own children to keep them safe from drug networks,” law student Amine Kessaci, founder of the NGO 'Conscience', told Euronews. 

”We’ve lost the drug war,” he said. Drug trafficking killed his older brother. His body was found burnt in a car in December 2020. Since then, the drug-related death count has exploded.

In 2023, 49 people died against the backdrop of drug trafficking, this figure was an all-time high. A turf war is at the root of these drug feuds. Two of the biggest drug cartels - DZ Mafia and Yoda - are fighting for control of a highly profitable drug market.

In France, drug trafficking generates about €3 billion every year. Some of Marseille’s dealing spots turn over between €25,000 and €90,000 daily. “Money that flows, corrupts and kills”, the city’s public prosecutor Nicolas Bessone, told Euronews.

In 'Les Maronniers', one of Marseille’s active trafficking points, prices are displayed “just like on a restaurant menu,” said Mohamed Benmeddour, a local resident and social worker.

The recently-appointed public prosecutor aims to track down the heads of the networks, including those abroad. “It is wrong to say that the state is not fully aware of this phenomenon,” Nicolas Bessone said.

The Minister of Justice is also creating liaison magistrate jobs in