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French Government Hardens Stance After Marseille Killing, Comparing Drug Gangs to Terror Threat

Investigators are treating the attack as an intimidation killing ordered by organized crime.

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Frankreichs Justizminister Gérald Darmanin hat die Bedrohung seines Landes durch Drogenbanden mit der durch Terrorismus verglichen. "Es ist eine tödliche Gefahr, die mindestens ebenso schlimm ist wie die des Terrorismus", sagte Darmanin.
Frankreichs Präsident Emmanuel Macron hat Freizeit-Koksern und -Haschischrauchern eine Mitverantwortung für den Krieg der Drogenbanden vorgeworfen, unter der die südfranzösische Hafenstadt Marseille besonders leidet.

Overview

  • Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin called drug networks a deadly danger comparable to terrorism and pledged more judicial staff for Marseille while pushing to block prison phone use.
  • Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the murder was meant to instill fear and also strike at the state, urging occasional drug users to face their responsibility for fueling the trade.
  • President Emmanuel Macron convened a crisis meeting, emphasizing prevention, public awareness and tighter coordination from local to international levels.
  • Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the victim was neither involved in trafficking nor chosen at random, with responsibility attributed to high‑level organized crime figures.
  • Mehdi Kessaci, 20, was shot from a scooter in central Marseille last week; media citing investigators report the jailed leader of the DZ Mafia is being examined as a possible mastermind, as France tallies nearly 50 drug‑war deaths in 2023 and 14 this year in the Marseille area.