MARSEILLE: The southern French city of Marseille was this week shaken by two apparently drug-related killings, including the murder of a 15-year-old boy who was “stabbed 50 times” and burned alive, prosecutors said on Sunday.

Marseille, France’s second-largest city but also one of its poorest, is plagued by drug-related violence.

The historic port city on the Mediterranean coast has in recent years witnessed a turf war for control of the highly profitable drug market between various clans including DZ Mafia and Yoda.

The problem was once again thrust into public eye this week, with Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone telling a news conference on Sunday that victims and perpetrators of such violence were getting increasingly younger. The 15-year-old teenager was murdered on Wednesday in a case Bessone described as one of “unprecedented savagery”.

On Friday, a 36-year-old football player, Nessim Ramdane, was shot and killed “in cold blood” by a 14-year-old in a case linked to Wednesday’s murder. The two latest cases mean that the number of drug-related killings in Marseille has risen to 17 since the start of the year.

Marseille’s drug lords have been recruiting foot soldiers with ads on social media, “outsourcing” street dealing to youngsters known as “jobbeurs”. Bessone said on Sunday that now young boys were responding to ads not only to sell cannabis resin but also to kill “without any remorse or reflection”.

The teenager had been hired via social networks by a 23-year-old prisoner to intimidate a competitor by setting fire to his door, the prosecutor said, adding the youth had been promised 2,000 euros. The detainee of the Luynes prison south of Aix-en-Provence had described himself as a member of DZ Mafia.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2024