Overview
- President Emmanuel Macron told a cabinet meeting that cocaine and hashish consumers, including affluent city residents, help finance traffickers and stressed prevention and coordinated action.
- He convened ministers for crisis talks on the drug trade after the central Marseille shooting that jolted national attention.
- Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez labeled the slaying an intimidation act tied to drug traffickers and Marseille mafia bosses.
- Prosecutors said 20-year-old Mehdi Kessaci, shot from a motorcycle in daylight, was not a random victim.
- Amine Kessaci, the victim’s brother and anti-drug campaigner, urged stronger state action as Marseille counts dozens of drug-war deaths in recent years.