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French drug gang leader arrested in Morocco: officials

The alleged leader of a major drug gang from the southern French port city of Marseille has been arrested in Morocco, French authorities announced on Saturday.

Police officers are seen in the northern district of in Marseille
Police officers are seen in the northern district of in Marseille, southern France in 2023. An alleged leader of a major drug gang in the port city has been arrested in Morocco. (Photo by CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP)

Marseille, France’s second-largest city but also one of its poorest metropoles, has been hit by drug-related violence.

“One of Marseille’s biggest drug traffickers was arrested in Morocco. Bravo to the police officers who tirelessly continue the fight against drug trafficking,” French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

He thanked the authorities of Morocco, saying “a big blow” had been dealt to drug trafficking.

Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone told AFP that Felix Bingui, 33, had been detained in the port city of Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city.

Bingui is believed to be the leader of Yoda, one of Marseille’s main drug gangs.

According to a source, the arrest was the result of months-long cooperation between French and Moroccan officials.

The gritty Mediterranean city’s northern neighbourhoods, notorious for their rundown streets and housing estates, are seen as the hub of the narcotics trade.

The city has in recent years witnessed a turf war for control of the highly profitable drug market between Yoda and another major clan known as DZ Mafia.

According to a source close to the investigation, Bingui regularly shuttled back and forth between France and Morocco until the outbreak of the turf war with DZ Mafia in February, 2023.

Last year, 49 people were killed and more than 120 received injuries in drug-related violence between rival gangs in Marseille.

A notorious drug smuggler, Karim Harrat, was extradited from Morocco to France in 2023.

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CRIME

Teens charged in France over plot to attack Jewish targets: judicial source

French prosecutors have charged a 19-year-old man and a youth in the Paris region with planning a "terrorist" attack on Jewish targets, a judicial source told AFP on Friday.

Teens charged in France over plot to attack Jewish targets: judicial source

While no details on the pair have been released, French anti-terrorist investigators have expressed increased concern over the young age of some suspects detained in recent months for planning militant attacks.

The 19-year-old has been charged with “terrorist conspiracy” to commit attacks and the “acquisition and possession of arms for a terrorist enterprise,” said the judicial source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

READ ALSO: Anti-Semitism fears stalk Jewish voters’ choice in France

The youth aged under 18 was detained on June 13, the source said.

The pair made contact on social media and were planning a “a violent action notably aiming at Jewish targets,” said the source without giving details on the plot.

Anti-terrorism investigators say a growing number of youths have been held in recent months for preparing attacks.

READ ALSO: French election breakdown: TV debates, polling latest and anti-Semitism

“This is a necessarily worrying phenomenon,” senior anti-terrorist prosecutor Olivier Christen said at an evidentiary hearing on Wednesday.

French politicians have also condemned a growing number of attacks on the country’s Jewish community, the biggest outside Israel and the United States.

Outrage has been expressed over the rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a park in the Paris suburbs last Saturday. Two 13-year-old boys have been charged with rape and making anti-Semitic insults.

Several protest rallies have been held in Paris and other French cities over the case which comes as France prepares for a national election in which the far-right National Rally party is tipped to make major gains. 

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